Shattered
by HotaruNoYami
Summary: 3rd and final story to Just Friends. Rina, Tori and Mika are back with stranger adventures and new situations that they've never dealt with before. Story is better than summary...well it should be...
1. A New Beginning

_Hiyas everyone! I'm back and this is the 3rd story to my first story (which most of you probably know of...) Just Friends. I'm so glad that I was able to make it here; believe me without the reviews I got in the last 2, I probably wouldn't have created this one. So I guess...review if you want more...but reviewing is **TOTALLY OPTIONAL**. I don't want to force people to review for a chapter, I find that cheap and really pathetic (no offense to ppl out there!) Well, enough of me and I hope you guys enjoy this one!!--HotarunoYami_

* * *

"Man this is so boring!!" Rin sighed as she tipped her chair back and snacked on a cookie as she boredly stared at the screen in front of her that showed no sign of activity. She sighed and yawned and stared up at the dark, clammy ceiling. She was about to doze off when someone yelled at her. 

"RIN, GET BACK TO WORK!" Akon scolded her as he stopped by her little desk area.

"AAH!!" She screamed startled and fell onto the ground since she had lost her balance on the chair that was perched on 2 of its 4 legs. "Akon-san, you scared me!" She whimpered as she set her chair upright and resumed her work.

"Well that's what you get for not working" He told her. "Don't let taichou see you slacking off, you know how he gets when things don't go his way" He reminded her.

"Yeah, yeah I know" She sighed. "But this is so boring! There's nothing happening at all!!" She whined. "All because we are allies with the arrancar and the 3 traitorous captains are back with us under constant watch" She added on as she rested her chin on the cold desk blankly staring at the screen.

"Well, think of it this way: do you want to live a boring life with no danger or a life with a lot of danger but a ton of action?" He asked her. She gave him an 'mmph' and shrugged. Deciding that she was impossible to get through, he left her in her gloomy, bored bubble.

**BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!**

A tiny little alarmed beeped in front of Rin. "Finally, something's happening!" She said to herself as she looked up at the tiny flashing icons across the screen. "Wait a minute…that's…it can't be!" She gasped as she stood up suddenly knocking her chair back onto the ground. The echo of the chair clattering against the hard floor attracted minor attraction for a short moment. "F-Fukutaichou-sama," Rin started calling her. "Take a look at this!" She said and pointed at the screen where 2 vibrant crimson icons flashed across the screen.

* * *

"Oh, thank you so much for coming again!" Rukia said as she hugged Rina for the 3rd time in the day. 

"It's nothing, besides your kids are adorable!" Rina told her.

"Anyways, guess who's here again?" Rukia asked with a look of grimace on her face as she hinted over to the kitchen where a bunch of people were conversing. They both knew who was in there; the Kuchiki elders and another noble family that regularly visited as of last week.

"Not again…" Rina sighed as she zipped past the kitchen hoping not to attract any attention. Those nobles had really ticked her off on the first day she had met them. They would usually rant about how commoners were so lowly, dumb and poor while the nobles were the exact opposite. In fact, because of their remarks on the commoners, Rukia and Rina had raised Emiko and Shinn to 'attack' those nobles any time they mentioned something negative. It worked quite effectively as they stayed quite quiet whenever people of lower class passed by them.

"Hey Rukia, I'm heading out now!" Ichigo said as he grabbed his captain's haori which had the kanji 5 on it. "You know where I'll be if you or the kids need anything" He said cramming a bread roll in his mouth. "Oh and if those noble idiots say anything to tick you guys off, just mention koalas" Ichigo said stepping into his zori and sliding open the door. "Love you Rukia!" He yelled out before running off to his division.

"Kurosaki, Tsukiyomi! What a pleasant surprise!" A woman dressed in regal clothing made of fine silks exclaimed as she approached them.

"Umm…I live here…" Rukia reminded her.

"Yeah, and I come here everyday…" Rina added on.

"Oh right, right! How could I forget?" She asked herself as she laughed slightly to herself.

"Mommy, Shinn won't let me play with him and Emiko!" A little boy shrieked from the room next door.

"Oh Akio, just ask nicely!" She yelled back to her son without venturing through the sliding doors just to see what was wrong.

"Say, did you hear that the zoo just got some _koalas_?" Rina asked winking at Rukia.

"Oh right, they just came in today! How about we bring our kids there?" Rukia asked the female noble in front of them whose face was drained of color.

"Thanks for the offer, but I must decline" She squeaked out before rushing back to the kitchen.

"By the way Rukia, where's Byakuya?" Rina asked her as she looked around the room.

"Oh he's getting tortured in the kitchen" She told her.

"Ok, I have to tell him something that I heard from Nemu who got it from Yamamoto-soutaichou" She explained.

"What is it?" Rukia asked curiously.

"You should come with me too, since you need to know this" Rina said and dragged Rukia into the kitchen which was full of stuck-up, snobby nobles. "Oh joy" Rukia and Rina said sarcastically as they observed the kitchen. "Sorry to interrupt ojii-sama" Rukia said bowing down to an elder that was in the middle of a conversation with a man. "Have you seen nii-sama anywhere?" Rukia asked wonderingly. He pointed towards the center of the mob of nobles and the two girls darted past people just to get to the center.

"Taichou, can you get off your ass and come here for a sec?" Rina asked him. He sighed and gratefully left the room.

"What do you want?" He asked boredly.

"Urgent message from Yamamoto-soutaichou," She started. "The arrancar are active and are passing through the human world continuously; you have a meeting in 3 hours" She told him. "…Any questions?" She asked them since they hadn't really given a reaction to the news.

"Yeah, since when do you follow orders?" Byakuya asked her giving her a strange look making sure she wasn't sick or anything. She swatted his hand away from her forehead and gave him the look that she was serious about the news. He caught on fast and tried to escape the noble 'party'.

"Good luck" Rina said rolling her eyes as she ran off with Rukia where Rukia's twins were.

* * *

"Hiya Ken-chan!" Mika greeted her former captain as she hopped into the room happily. Zaraki gave a grunt as a sign that he had acknowledged her presence and kept on working on his work that was handed to him. 

"HI MIKA!!" Yachiru squealed bouncing up and down excitedly. "So, why are you here today?" Yachiru asked her curiously.

"I'm just ditching work!" Mika beamed proudly. "Then I'm gonna go down to 4th division to grab some extra bandages for Renji, then ask Unohana advice on how to deal with a loudmouth who talks too much" She said explaining her day to Yachiru.

"…You're going to see Unohana-taichou?" Zaraki asked raising his head looking at Mika.

"Yup" Mika answered.

"Could you pass a message to her from me?" He asked.

"…What is it?" Mika asked getting suspicious.

"Could you…" Zaraki whispered the rest into Mika's ear. Her eyes widened and started to giggle uncontrollably.

"OK, if you insist!" Mika said trying to hold her giggling fit in. "I'll send the message onto her cupid!" Mika winked and dashed out of the room.

"Does that mean Unohana is going to be my mommy?!" Yachiru asked excitedly.

"…Am I your daddy?" Zaraki asked confused.

"Yup" Yachiru nodded with a smile.

"Then in that case, you're not allowed to date until you're married" Zaraki told her.

Yachiru cocked her head to one side with a confused expression on her face. "What's a date?" She asked him confused.

"Er…a date is like…" Zaraki stammered unable to define what it was without giving Yachiru any ideas. Ikkaku walked in all wrinkled up and steaming—obviously he had spent way too much time in the hot springs. "…a prune" Zaraki told Yachiru as Ikkaku started to work.

"I can't eat prunes til I'm married? Ok!" Yachiru cheered and ran out cheering happily.

"Smooth move taichou" Ikkaku smirked as he had overheard the whole conversation.

"Shut it Prune-head!" Zaraki growled as he dumped another workload on top of Ikkaku's pile.

* * *

"Shiro-chan, guess what!" Tori shouted out excited. 

"I dunno what?" He asked boredly.

"You're supposed to guess!" Tori told him.

"I don't want to" Hitsugaya told her showing her that he had no intention of playing silly little games with her.

"But you have to!" She whined.

"Whine all you want but I'm not going to" He told her.

"Rangiku guess what!" Tori shouted out to Rangiku.

"You ditched taichou for Ulquiorra because he wouldn't play with you!" She shouted out.

"What?" Hitsugaya asked bolting up from his seat alarmed.

"Well you don't play any games with her so you should've expected it" Rangiku shrugged.

"…YOU GOT A CAR!" Hitsugaya shouted out.

"Nope" Tori shook her head.

"YOU GOT A BUNNY! YOU HAVE A MILLION DOLLARS! IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY!!" Hitsugaya shouted out getting into the game.

"Nope" Tori shook her head; before Rangiku snuck out, Tori winked to Rangiku as a thank you.

* * *

"So, the arrancar are active and now they're prowling through the real world?" Rukia asked once again as she absorbed the sudden news. 

"Yup, that's what's been reported anyways" Rina responded.

"I'm so glad we're not captains!" Rukia said cheerfully. "We don't have to deal with so much work!" She beamed.

"You got that right!"

"Mommy, can Nariko, Yachiru and I have a sleepover tonight?" Emiko asked Rukia with pleading violet eyes.

"Smart kid equals celebration" Rina told Rukia.

"Sure why not, don't make too much noise and mess okay?" Rukia told her.

"Ok mommy!" Emiko's face lit up with joy as she went to call the other two.

"What about me?" Shinn asked wanting to feel included.

"Well, what do you want to do?" Rukia asked him.

"I wanna know how to play football!" He said happily.

"…ok…we'll get your father to teach you once he gets back!" Rukia told him.

"Thank you!" He cheered happily and ran off to some other part of the house.

"Nice timing guys" Rina said as Ichigo and Byakuya returned only to meet something they weren't expecting.

"I have to teach him football?" Ichigo whined.

"I have to let Yachiru in my house?" Byakuya moaned.

"There's nothing wrong with it right?" Rina asked them.

"How late are they going to stay up for?" Byakuya and Ichigo asked in unison.

"Emiko," Rukia called out. "How long are you guys planning to stay up for?" She asked her.

"As long as we possibly can" Emiko stated.

"You heard the girl" Rukia said.

"No" Both men said in unison.

"What's wrong with it daddy?" Emiko asked pouting.

"Its way too late for you guys anyways, besides you guys have a bedtime" Ichigo explained.

"Okay, before you captains ruin their night let me tell you guys something…" Rina started. "People who can't stay up past 9:00 are total losers, can't past 11:00 are lame and boring people, 12:00 and over are the best people!" Rina explained. "And that's only for sleepovers, normal bedtimes are whenever you want it to be"

"Uh-huh…and that's true how?" Byakuya asked her not believing her little theory.

"People that can stay up past 12:00 AM are great people who work during the graveyard shift… for some reason nobody likes that shift" Rina told them. "Oh by the way, how'd the meeting go?" She asked him.

* * *

"So when's Ken-chan's first date?" Tori asked Mika excitedly with a wide grin on her face. 

"He said that he'd think about it and wants tips from us" Mika said.

"Of all the people he could ask, why us?" Tori asked confused.

"He says that our relationships are a lot better than a bunch of other people's" Mika explained.

"Hmm…how did I first meet Shiro-chan and like him?" Tori pondered.

* * *

"_Sorry, but the price is far too high" Hitsugaya sighed as he started to walk away from a vendor selling fruits and vegetables, including watermelons._

"_Wait, how about 5,000 yen?" The vendor yelled out not wanting to lose a sale._

"…_I don't know if you know this but, we shinigami don't get paid much" He informed him._

"_Please just buy one stupid piece of fruit!" He begged. "I have a wife and 3 kids to support you have to buy something!!" He pleaded._

"…_You're just a 5 year old brat that's ripping people off" Hitsugaya said with a raised eyebrow._

"_DADDY," The young boy shouted out; out stomped out a huge man towering Hitsugaya by a foot and a half._

"_Uh-oh…" Hitsugaya muttered thinking that he had just made a huge mistake._

"_HUZZAH, human ping-pong ball coming through!!" A feminine voice shouted out as a blur whipped around bouncing off of walls, the floor and sometimes people. "HEY GET OUTTA MY WAY I'LL HURT YOU!" She warned as she smacked into the huge man knocking him over onto his back. "Ow!" The girl whimpered as she got back onto her feet and dusted herself off._

_  
"Take whatever you want for free, but just let us go!" The man pleaded._

"…_Ok…" She shrugged and grabbed the biggest watermelon there._

_"But you," The man pointed at Hitsugaya. "You're going to pay for the damages here"_

_"Hey that's not fair!" The girl protested. "It's not his fault that you're so freakishly huge and ugly that I hit you!" She yelled out._

"_Hey you wanna make something of it shrimp?" The little boy asked the girl._

"_Oh you're asking for it twerp!" She fumed. "…Kiritsukeru!!" She shouted out having one hand outstretched at the feet of the two people. Large slicing gusts of wind shot out suddenly at their feet. It obviously terrified them and told them that they could take whatever they want. "Here ya go" She placed the watermelon in Hitsugaya's hands._

_"What? Are you sure about this?" He asked her as she started to walk away._

_"Yup, I don't have a use for it right now so you might as well have it, besides that's what you wanted right?" She asked him._

_"Well, yeah but it doesn't seem right…" He muttered._

"_I know how you can pay me back!" She said suddenly which made him jump slightly._

"_What?" He asked wanting to pay her back._

_"Bail me outta class for the day and we're even!" She told him._

_"Uh…sure…" He shrugged._

_"By the way, what's your name?" He asked her._

"_Tori" She responded._

_"What about your last name?" He asked her; she stopped and looked around warily hoping no one would just sneak into their little conversation._

_"Can you keep a secret?" She asked him; he nodded confused. She rolled up her long white sleeve of her academy uniform up to her shoulder which had a feather-like tattoo on it._

"_Oh, so you're one of them" He said recognizing it._

_"Yup"_

"_I'm Hitsugaya Toshiro, nice to meet you" He said as they stopped in front of the academy._

"_Ok Snowflake, work your magic and get me out of class for the day!" She told him._

_"…Snowflake..." Hitsugaya muttered._

* * *

"Oh yeah, Shiro-chan got me out of school that day!" Tori remembered smiling even more. 

"…How did I like Renji…?" Mika wondered.

* * *

"_Go!" Ikkaku shouted out as Renji and Mika squared off having their hands rested on the hilt of their zanpakutou, circling each other staring each other in the eye analyzing their moves. In an instant they disappeared and swung down at an amazing force down at each other in mid-air. They disappeared again and reappeared somewhere else._

"_Dammit she's good!" Renji muttered to himself as he panted heavily wondering where Mika had disappeared to._

_"Man he's an idiot!" Mika thought to herself as she landed a nice hard kick on Renji's backside sending him flying over to where Zaraki, Yachiru and Ikkaku were. _

_"Heh, nice try" He smirked and quickly jumped back up into the air releasing Zabimaru onto her. She dodged with ease and chucked a rock at Renji's head. Somehow, just somehow Renji didn't see the rock so he was clobbered and sent down to the __ground unconscious._

_----_

"…_Are you dead?" Someone asked him as his eyelids rose to see a blinding light stream down onto him._

"_Where the hell am I?" He moaned as he sat up in a hospital bed._

_"Alright you're alive!!" Mika cheered announcing it out to the rest of the division. "Phew! I thought I killed you!" She said releasing a breath of relief._

"_Psh, like you could ever kill me" He muttered trying to recollect the memories before he was owned by a rock._

"_Oh yeah, I'm Mika!" She said outstretching her hand for a handshake._

_"Abarai Renji" He said and shook her hand. "What's your last name?" He asked realizing that she had only mentioned her first name._

"_Let's play Hangman to find out!" Mika decided and pulled out a mini whiteboard and drew in 5 blank spaces. "Guess a letter!" She told him._

"…_A…" He said._

"_Yup" She filled in the 4__th__ space; eventually Renji got the word without getting to the arms of the man being hung._

"_Oh, so you're part of that clan…I get it now…no wonder you kicked my ass!" Renji said now knowing how Mika had beaten him so easily._

"Oh yeah, kicking Renji's ass…" Mika remembered.

* * *

"So we need some people to go down to Hueco Mundo to see what's going on?" Rina asked Byakuya. 

"That's right" He nodded.

"I'll go" She volunteered.

Byakuya flinched slightly but Rina noticed it instantly. "What's this, the noble has feelings? Who would've guessed?" She asked sarcastically.

"I just don't want you to get hurt" He said looking away.

"Reminds me the first time we met, you would've never have said that if I went on a mission" Rina said remembering it.

* * *

"_Ayaka, what're you looking at this time?" Rina asked her brunette friend that was peering out from the class door to the hallways._

_"Shh!! He's coming, how do I look?" She asked turning towards Rina._

_"…You look like an academy student like the rest of us" Rina stated._

"_Ok good, I don't want him to think I'm a freak or anything!" She said getting excited._

"_Who are we talking about?" Rina asked blankly._

"_Kuchiki Byakuya, isn't it obvious?!" She asked her._

_"…cookie…baka…who--?" Rina asked confused. _

_"No, it's Kuchiki Byakuya; he's like the cutest guy of all time!" Ayaka explained looking out the door again._

"…_Co…Kooky…Kookaburra!" Rina shouted out thinking she had gotten it._

"_No it's, Kuchiki Byakuya!" Ayaka corrected her._

"_Kuchiki Byakuya…ok" Rina said getting the name right. "Now I'll know how to address him when he breaks your heart" She said out loud._

"_Don't speak nonsense Rina, I know this guy and all he needs is someone to melt his icy heart!" She said dreamily._

"…_3…2…1…" Rina counted down._

_"Rina, he didn't even look at me and he told me to get lost!!" Ayaka cried as she reentered the room._

"_I was prepared" Rina sighed as she got up from her seat and ran down the hallway. "Hey, dumb idiot, get your ass back here!" Rina yelled out as she approached them. Immediately, a guard unsheathed his sword and pointed it at her. "Oh my god," She gasped looking at the blade._

_"What?" The guard asked confused._

"_Your sword is in the worst condition I've ever seen!" She exclaimed. "You should really consider polishing it" She suggested._

"_Hey thanks!" The guard thanked her and turned around to the rest of the group who just stared at him incredulously. "What? It'll make it prettier!" He protested._

"_OK, listen here mister! You don't go telling people to buzz off without looking at them ok?" She told Byakuya poking him in the chest emphasizing her points. "You probably don't know this, but my friend Ayaka, who is way down the hallway, really, really likes you so I suggest you go back and apologize to her!" She almost yelled._

_Byakuya just glared at her and started to turn around and walk away but Rina became his second shadow and followed him wherever he went, complaining about how rude he was to her friend and wouldn't stop talking at all. Eventually he gave in storming off to where Rina's friend was since Rina herself wouldn't ditch him until he did. "Get over it" He simply stated to Ayaka and proceeded to walk away; he surely shouldn't have thought that was going to cut it since Rina followed him around again. "What do you want?" He asked her._

_"You didn't think I'd leave after something so inconsiderate like that right?" She asked him. He didn't respond which led to her shout-out to Ayaka, "FIND A DIFFERENT GUY, THIS ONE'S DEFECTIVE!" This earned her a well-earned glare from Byakuya once again. "I'm just speaking the truth, there's nothing wrong with that right?" She shrugged as she continued to follow him._

_"Why are you following me?" He asked her._

"_Why are you such a jerk?" She asked him._

"_Why do you ask such irrelevant questions?" He asked._

"_Why do you use long words that I don't understand?" She countered._

"_Why am I talking to you?" He asked himself after realizing that he was conversing with a lower class person._

"_Why are you talking to yourself kookaburra?" She asked him._

"_I don't appreciate you insulting me or anyone else with your atrocious behavior" He told her._

"_Well, I don't appreciate you using words I don't understand!" She countered._

"_Would you please leave?" He sighed in defeat._

_"Ok" She shrugged and walked away. "Bye Byaku!!" She waved to him as she walked away._

_"Wait!" He shouted out after catching sight of her palm._

_"First you want me to leave; now you want me to go back…will you make up your mind?" She complained. He didn't answer like usual and just grabbed her arm and studied the palm. "…Are you reading my palm?" She asked him confused. "Hey, how long am I going to live?" She asked him. He looked up and released his grip on her arm._

"_10 seconds if you don't shut up" He answered. "So you're a Tsukiyomi…" He started._

* * *

"I can't believe we still argue" Rina responded. "Over the stupidest things too" She added on. "…I can't believe you're following me home!" She exclaimed now realizing that Byakuya had been walking alongside her. 

"You and your short-attention span" Byakuya shook his head.

"You and your fancy words" Rina grumbled.

* * *

"Ok, guys I have a mission tomorrow so you guys are gonna have to handle everything tomorrow!" Rina yelled into her home as she walked in. 

"OK!" Tori piped up poking her head out of the kitchen. "Where are you going anyways?" Tori then asked.

"Hueco Mundo, Flappy and Qui-Qui are screwing something up" Rina sighed.

"Tell them I say hi!" Tori told her.

"Will do"

"Oh yeah, this girl was looking for you today" Tori added on getting out a tub of ice cream from the freezer. "She wants to talk to you tomorrow" She added on.

"…Did she leave a name?" Rina asked trying to figure out who it could be from all the girls she knew in her life.

"Ay…something…I think it's Ayaka" Tori said spooning ice cream down her throat.

"Uh-oh…" Rina said with wide eyes.

"I heard an uh-oh, what's going on?" Mika asked walking in with snowshoes on.

"Oh I hope she's not mad with me!!" Rina groaned.

"Mika, why are you in snowshoes, a sombrero, oven mitts, a hoop skirt and a winter coat?" Tori asked confused looking at Mika's strange attire.

"Oh, Ren-Ren and I had a deal that we'd throw out whatever we didn't wear in a week's time" Mika explained putting on a gas mask. "I'm not going to throw out anything so I'm gonna wear whatever we have!" She declared putting on hundreds of bracelets and a hula skirt on top of the hoop skirt. "You guys are my eyewitnesses!" She told them.

"…Go to the attic and find the dress-up chest, you'll find a lot of stuff there!" Tori advised her.

"Aye-aye, Tori!" Mika saluted her.

"…Since when does she have all that stuff?" Rina asked.


	2. Knowledge Isn't Always Good

"Dammit, where is it?!"

"3rd time this month…" Tori muttered leaning against the shut door.

"I just don't get why she gets all worked up about it…" Mika mumbled fitting on some flippers onto her feet.

"Seriously, how far are you going to go with this deal?" Tori asked her with an amazed look as Mika put on some fake cat claws that were probably part of an old Halloween costume.

"As far as I want to, besides Tousen decided to step in too just for the fun of it" Mika told her; Tori shuddered from the image. The door opened up and Tori and Mika fell backwards since they had been leaning against it. Rina just stared at them blankly.

"What're you guys doing?" She asked them.

"I dunno… what're you doing?" Mika asked still lying down on the floor.

"Uhh…going out to my mission for the day" Rina responded trying to jump over the two people that were crowding their entrance.

"OK, see ya later!" Tori shouted out.

* * *

"I can't believe I had to come along with this!" Rangiku moaned as she banged her fists against the walls of the passageway. 

"How do you think I feel? I was literally kicked out of my division!" Hisagi told her.

"What about you?" Rangiku turned to Rina.

"I volunteered to tag along" She answered.

"You are one weird girl, Rina" Hisagi said.

"Thank you!" Rina thanked him.

-----

"Why is it so c-cold?" Rangiku asked through her chattering teeth.

"Why does it feel so hostile here?" Hisagi asked wonderingly.

"…What're you guys talking about?" Rina asked blankly.

* * *

"…So how was your day?" The noble family asked the Kuchiki's. 

"…Fine thank you, yours?" Rukia asked them maintaining a straight face, holding her kids back from attacking them. "Nii-sama, I am going to die if I have to sit here for 15 more seconds!" Rukia whispered over to Byakuya who was sitting beside her.

"I don't have a choice Rukia!" Byakuya whispered back; he wasn't lying at all actually. They were actually invited by the elders to stay awhile in the Kuchiki household again.

"Hey nii-sama," Rukia started out loud. "Have you seen Emiko's _koala_ anywhere?!" Rukia asked hoping it would trigger something.

"…Yeah, its right behind our guests" Byakuya answered pointing behind where the noble family across from them was sitting.

"Oh, would you look at the time! Time sure goes by fast when you're having a good time!" They said quickly and ran out as fast as they could.

"What's their problem with koalas?" Rukia asked confused.

"Can we go now?" Emiko asked annoyed. Rukia released them and they ran off to play outside.

* * *

"Stupid…cold…desert…!" Rangiku panted heavily as she lifted her right foot and stepped into the sand as she trudged on to where the Espada HQ was. 

"…You just took 3 steps congratulations" Rina said sarcastically as she watched Rangiku's futile attempts to walk around in Hueco Mundo.

"Well, excuse me! It's freezing **-35 degrees** down here; you can manipulate fire so of course you don't feel anything!" Rangiku pointed out as she rubbed her arms for warmth.

"Maybe you should fix your SHIHAKUSHOU if you're so damned cold!" Rina retorted.

"Would you guys shut up?" Hisagi yelled out tired of all the senseless arguing. "There's something around here" He added on scanning their surroundings. Rangiku and Rina blinked innocently not sensing anything until something leaped out of the sand right behind them. They were showered with sand and virtually buried. "Dammit!" Hisagi cursed as he pulled out his zanpakutou and went head-on with the hollow that had just ambushed them. He defeated it easily but there were a lot more as it was a realm full of them.

"BLECCH!!" Rina and Rangiku gagged digging themselves out of the sand they were buried in. They automatically started to fight but the numbers weren't decreasing at all. It was as if once you had chopped one down, 2 others came in to replace it.

"We're gonna be here a long time" Rangiku said as she defeated a hollow.

* * *

"You do not know how disturbing this is!" Tori moaned covering her head with her arms and resting them on the table. 

"You're telling me, it's like they're having their mid-life crisis!" Hitsugaya agreed as he saw Renji, Mika and Tousen dress up in the weirdest outfits ever. It was very hard to differentiate which one was who. "Are you sure we can trust _him_ though?" Hitsugaya asked Byakuya pointing at Tousen who put bunny rabbit ears on his head.

"We have no choice but to keep them under constant watch Hitsugaya-taichou" Byakuya sighed sitting down in a chair. "After all, they haven't given us any explanation as to why the arrancar are roaming around" He added on.

"Oh by the way, nice place you got!" Tori told him since they were in his house at the time being.

"Hmm" He responded looking up at the clock. It had been only 3 hours since the group of three had left and no response from them.

"I told you that running was effective!!" Someone shouted out from outside the household. The door slid open and shut as some people trudged into the house.

"Well look who's bleeding to death!" Someone retorted.

"Hey how do you think I feel? I got sand in my b—"SHUT UP!!"

"Rina's back!" Tori shouted out happily and slid down the handrail to meet up with her friend that was supporting Rangiku who was muttering things while Hisagi just oohed and aahhed at the house. "…It wasn't that hard was it?" Tori asked confused as she helped Rangiku to the couches to get bandaged up and treated of.

"Apparently it was" Rina sighed. "We couldn't even make it to the HQ since there were so many hollows" She added on.

"Hollows are weak, they shouldn't have been much trouble" Renji said speaking out of a Viking helmet.

"Try having to fight off a platoon of hollows taichou" Hisagi told him. "And do you know how stupid you look?" He asked him.

"Hold on, ok…and here I am!" Tousen exclaimed strutting out in a disco suit. "Well, don't I look like the godfather of soul?" He asked. No response from the two other captains at all. "Anyone?" He asked turning to the lieutenants and Tori. They just gaped at him wide-eyed with their jaws hanging low.

"…You look like _Uncle Ben_" Rina, Mika and Tori said at the same time with wide-eyes.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA--!!" Renji laughed and pointed at Tousen. "Hey, hey…who's _Aunt Jemima_?" He asked him still laughing. Tousen gave off an ominous aura that threatened Renji's life. "…I was just joking…" Renji gulped and backed off.

"Tousen-taichou, you're married?!" Hisagi gasped bolting up from his seat.

"What the hell? NO!" Tousen shouted out offended. "God people, take a joke!" He muttered storming off.

"Thank god he's gone!" Byakuya said thankfully once the former captain had left his home.

"I swear, that guy's drunk" Mika said muffled through some 24 scarves.

"Well thank you for letting me use you bathroom so I can get the sand out of my bo—"SHUT UP!" Rina and Tori intercepted Rangiku so she wouldn't say any unnecessary things. She mumbled some things before leaving to go to the bathroom.

"GO LONG!!" A voice shouted out, instantly a football whirled out of nowhere and straight into the living room. Renji jumped out and caught it; he was confused at where the ball had been shot out from.

"Alright Tako-chan caught it!" Shinn shouted out happily as he ran to retrieve the ball.

"OK, you've mastered throwing; now we get to the fun part hitting!" Ichigo said giving his little-man a high-five.

"Kurosaki!" Byakuya shouted out walking over to him with an angry look. "While you are living under my roof you should know that you are not allowed to throw anything in here!" He told him.

"Aww…Uncle Byakuya, dad's just teaching me things. Isn't it okay that he teaches me how to control my power?" Shinn asked innocently.

"The boy's got a point there" Hisagi said.

"Ok Shinn, how bout we go get ice cream and then continue our practice?" Ichigo asked fearfully trying to save his life.

"OKAY!" Shinn yelled out happily and ran out with his dad.

"Oh yeah look who we found!" Renji and Mika shouted out with a smile as they pulled out a girl from the kitchen. "Hey Rina, its Ayaka!" Mika told her.

"Aw crap…I so should've let that hollow kill me…" Rina moped as she tried to find an exit without anybody noticing.

"Hey Rina, think we can talk in the kitchen?" Ayaka asked shyly.

"If I die, everything of mine goes to you!" Rina whispered over to Tori as she trudged slowly to the kitchen.

"Do those two hate each other or something?" Hitsugaya asked confused as he saw them enter the kitchen with some sort of ominous aura surrounding them.

"I dunno, they were great friends in the academy and they suddenly stopped talking…" Tori shrugged.

"I heard that she liked Byakuya too…so I guess some sort of jealousy?" Mika brought up.

"Psh, who doesn't?" Rangiku asked as she returned from the bathroom and got many queer stares.

"Excuse me?" Byakuya asked appalled.

"I-I mean…uh…" Rangiku stammered unable to take back what had already been said. They suddenly heard a huge crash and what seemed to be metal clashing from inside the kitchen.

"Awesome! A chick fight!" Renji shouted out happily and pressed his ear against the wall that shielded the kitchen.

"Renji!" Mika shouted out offended. "Best friends get to know this first!" She added on pressing her own ear against the wall.

"Abarai, Kurai!" Hitsugaya shouted ready to lecture them, but he stopped for a moment. "…Hey that rhymes!" He said suddenly. "Don't you think what you're doing is wrong?" He asked them. He didn't give them much time to think about it as he continued on. "You're doing it all wrong; you're supposed to use a glass!" He told them as he pressed a glass against the wall and pressed his ear against the glass.

"Alright taichou!" Rangiku cheered as she tried to listen in; Hisagi joined in too because of his curiosity.

"She's gonna freak once she finds out what you guys are doing!" Tori warned them as she and Byakuya were the only ones that weren't spying in on them.

"Come on, don't you wanna know what's going on behind this wall?" Hisagi asked her.

"NO! I'd never invade her privacy!" Tori told them.

"Your loss" Hisagi shrugged.

------

"…How is it my fault that I ended up being in this relationship?!" Rina shrieked angrily at Ayaka who had accused her of 'stealing her boyfriend'. "If I remember correctly you were the one who came crying to me all because he told you to get lost. That DIDN'T mean you still didn't have a chance, you could've kept trying!" Rina yelled out at her.

"Well if _I_ remember correctly you said that he was 'defective' and I should find a different guy!" She countered twice as furious as Rina was.

"DID YOU EVEN THINK OF WHAT I WAS SAYING?! I WAS TRYING TO PROVOKE HIM TO GET A FREAKIN ANSWER OUTTA HIM!!" Rina yelled back.

------

"…Looks like you're in some heat Kuchiki-taichou" Renji told him as he gave Tori and Byakuya the play-by-play.

"Ooh nice come-back!" Rangiku commented from the bouts of frustration being unleashed within the kitchen.

"Shut up I can't hear!" Mika scolded her.

"You guys are so screwed" Tori sighed as she turned her back on them only to see her friend exit the kitchen. Rina stared at them; they didn't realize that they had exited.

"Would it be easier to spy if I spoke louder?" Rina spoke up catching their attention. They just stared, frightened and in shock with no words being able to say anything.

"And slower please" Hisagi told her before she left them.

* * *

"So…a bad reunion?" Ichigo asked Rina who was chopping away at cucumbers for Rukia's salad. 

"Oh you won't believe it, she totally accused me of doing things that I didn't do" Rina sighed out of frustration. "I'm so glad that I can tell you all this since you aren't close a really close friend or any thing" She said thrusting the knife forcibly into the wooden cutting board out of frustration. This movement startled Ichigo quite a bit since his hand wasn't that far away from where she had slammed the knife down. "Now where's that lettuce?" Rina asked as she opened up the fridge and scavenged the fridge. While her back was turned, Ichigo removed the knife from the cutting board and swiftly threw it into the garbage just so that he wouldn't be harmed at all. He shuffled back slightly just to be on the safe side. "Ok…where's the knife?" Rina asked looking down at where she had left it.

"…I dunno…" Ichigo said cautiously looking around warily. Then his eyes saw something that sent shivers down his spine…a whole rack full of knives…

"Oh well" She shrugged and started taking off the leaves of the lettuce. "So how's Rukia doing with the kids and all the work from Ukitake?" Rina asked him.

"Oh she's doing fine!" Ichigo responded. "Hey Byakuya, nice timing, your girlfriend needs your support so…support her!" He told him as he entered the kitchen confused. Ichigo ran away as fast as he could getting queer glances at him.

"What's his problem?" Byakuya asked confused.

"No idea"

"So what's wrong?" He asked her.

"Oh it's just that my friend from the academy totally thinks that I 'stole' you from her, when she and you didn't even have a friend relationship" She explained as Ichigo came running back in. He dashed to the countertop and grabbed the rack of knives. Byakuya and Rina stared at him confused. He laughed nervously at his strange actions.

"Why have knives in a kitchen?" He asked nervously as he hijacked them and ran back out.

"Oh wow that was a close one" Ichigo gasped as he wiped his brow. Suddenly a bright red disc whizzed by nearly hitting his nose. He realized that it was a Frisbee being tossed back and forth by Emiko and Shinn.

"Hi daddy!" Emiko shouted out happily as Shinn tossed the Frisbee back to her.

"Guys, don't throw things here, uncle Byakuya will get mad" Ichigo warned them.

"It's okay he won't mind!" Shinn assured him.

"Do you remember what happened when you threw that football?" Ichigo turned to him.

"…I got ice cream out of it!" Shinn beamed.

"You got ice cream?" Emiko gasped. "How come I didn't?" She asked.

"Well, you see…uh…" Ichigo stammered now realizing how much work Rukia had to deal with whenever he wasn't around.

"Daddy doesn't love me!!" Emiko bawled thinking that Ichigo didn't love her leading to her conclusion as to why she didn't get ice cream.

"No, no, no…daddy loves both of you!" Ichigo said and tried to comfort her. "How bout you run into the kitchen and ask Rina-neechan to get you some!" He told her.

"Ok" She said and ran in.

"Hey _Berry Man_!" Shinn shouted out running up to Ichigo who twitched from what he was acknowledged at. "How come you're so scared of uncle Byakuya?" Shinn asked wonderingly.

"First, who told you to call me by 'Berry Man'?" Ichigo asked him as he kneeled down to eye level.

"No one did" He shrugged. "I hear Mika and Tori call you that all the time" He explained.

"…What else?" Ichigo asked his son to continue on.

"Umm…oh yeah Tako-chan said that I should also call you Strawberry" He added on; Ichigo twitched even more. "And, and--!" Shinn nearly shouted out in excitement. "Uncle Byakuya is Kookaburra!" He exclaimed. Ichigo nearly laughed out loud from the simplistic name given to someone so high-class.

"Kookaburra…man I'm gonna use that every time I see him now!" Ichigo said with a wide smile.

"Hi Kookaburra!" Shinn waved up to Byakuya who was right behind Ichigo.

"Aw crap…" Ichigo muttered as he looked up at him. "I guess you're going to yell at me now huh?" Ichigo asked him.

"Actually, no I was going to say that you're a dork" Byakuya responded, Ichigo sighed in relief.

"...wait...what?!" Ichigo nearly yelled out.

"For starters, everyone knows that you're not supposed to have knives near a child" Byakuya pointed out to the rack of knives that Ichigo had in his hands.

"AH!" He shrieked and let go of the rack.

"You're hopeless" Byakuya sighed as he grabbed the knives and headed back to the kitchen.

"Mommy's home!" Rukia shouted out from the front of the house as she ran in. "Have you been a good boy Shinn?" Rukia asked him patting his head.

"Yup Honey-Bunny-Wunny!" Shinn shouted out. The 3 adults froze in their spots and slowly turned their attention to Shinn.

"...Excuse me?" Rukia asked. "Did you just call me 'Honey-Bunny-Wunny'?" Rukia asked him.

"Ya, I hear daddy call you that all the time so why can't I?" Shinn asked.

"B-because...only grown-ups can say that!" Ichigo told him.

"Why?" He asked confused.

"You'll learn once you've reached our age" Byakuya spoke for Ichigo who couldn't think of anything to say back.

"Here ya go Rukia" Rina said as she gave Rukia her salad.

"Oh thanks!" Rukia took it gratefully as she kept her eye on her son who had learned quite a bit.

"HI FURIN-CHAN!" Shinn shouted out causing both Rina and Byakuya to flinch.

"Don't tell me--!" Ichigo gasped noticing the tiny twitch in both people. "OH GOD! I never thought of you people to be the romantic, cutesy type!" He said with a sly smile on his face.

"Say a word and I'll cut your tongue off!" Byakuya threatened drawing one of the knives from the rack. Ichigo hid behind his son and wife from utter fear. Rukia smacked him as a sign that she didn't accept Ichigo's cowardly behavior.

"Hey it's Tweety and Snowbunny!" Emiko pointed out happily licking her ice cream as Tori and Hitsugaya walked by. They froze and twitched slightly.

"...Makes me wonder what Mika and Renji are..." Rukia muttered.

"Renji's Tako-chan, Mika doesn't have one yet" Shinn explained to his mother.

"Lucky!" The group muttered.

"You 2 go run off and play and NEVER EVER call us by that again ok?" Ichigo told them.

"OK!" They responded and ran outside.

"From now on, we will never address each other in cutesy nicknames, ok?" Rukia decided for them all.

"Hell yeah!"


	3. Whodunnit!

Ichigo yawned as he walked into the kitchen and looked out the window that was above the kitchen sink. It was a bright sunny day, perfect conditions for playing football with Shinn. He poured himself a cup of coffee and started to prepare breakfast for his family. He put in 4 slices of bread in the toaster and smirked slightly, remembering the toaster incident when he brought one back from his own home to the Kuchiki's. It was quite a funny and ridiculous scene as family members were afraid of it as they discovered how the bread would pop up suddenly. As he sliced off the crusts of the bread and threw them away, he discovered something interesting in the garbage.

"What the hell?" He questioned as he pulled it out. His eyes widened and ran out the kitchen screaming for Byakuya.

"…Well?" Byakuya asked him grumpily since he had been woken up at 6 A.M. on a **SATURDAY**!

"Do you know what this is?!" Ichigo asked him pulling out a plastic bag with what Ichigo had found in the garbage.

"…Disgusting?" Byakuya suggested.

"Wrong! It's what women use to determine if they're pregnant or not!" Ichigo nearly shouted. Byakuya immediately plucked the bag by one corner with his thumb and index finger, holding it as if it were a bag of garbage and threw it into the garbage disposal. He then soaked his hands into hot water; it seemed as if he were burning his hands. After he finished cleaning his hands he walked back to where Ichigo was.

"If you wake me up for something like that again, I'll kill you without hesitation" He threatened him as he walked away.

"You can't do that, my kids will miss me!" Ichigo protested.

* * *

"So during the Renaissance in Europe, nobles and other high ranking people were executed by having their heads chopped off?" Rukia asked Rina.

"Yup" Rina responded reading more of her old textbook that she had recently re-discovered from the graveyard of old things found in her basement. "And also, the nobles grew their hair to shoulder-length" She added on turning the page over.

"…Hmmm…Ichigo with long hair…" Rukia pondered. "It'd be a mix of Fabio and Tarzan" She said out loud.

"…I understand the Tarzan part" Rina muttered.

"Wait, so you mean if we followed the Renaissance period's execution rules, that'd mean that my head would be chopped off right?" Rukia asked suddenly.

"Uh…yeah" Rina answered.

"Nii-sama, thank you for letting me keep my head!" Rukia thanked him as he and Ichigo walked into the room not expecting Rukia to act in such a behavior. She gave him a hug which appalled him.

"Come here" Ichigo told her as he outstretched his arms for a hug.

"I'm okay" Rukia told him declining the hug offer and walked out of the room. Ichigo was highly offended and wondered what he had done wrong.

"What are you teaching her?" Ichigo asked Rina who stood up with the book in her hands.

"Just some history, like nobles had their hair grown to a shoulder-length and that nobles had their heads chopped off while commoners were hung" She explained to them. Both men grew uneasy and rubbed their necks from the knowledge that they were nobles and would have their heads chopped off if it weren't for the 21st century. As the two were thanking the heavens that the execution rules of the Renaissance didn't apply anymore, Rina ventured into the kitchen which caused Ichigo to nearly shout out STOP!

"Uh…what're you doing?" He asked her as she pulled out a 6-pack of pop.

"Getting a drink" She told him as she pulled out a can and opened up the can.

"Oh thanks Rina, this is just exactly what I need!" Ichigo thanked her in a really cheesy, fake voice of gratitude as he snatched the can away from her hands and drank it all. "Ah, it's flat, I'd settle for water or juice" He told her. "This stuff is for the old farts who say that pop is too fizzy" He added on.

"Ok…I'll think I'll just have wine instead" She told him.

"We don't have any wine" He told her scanning the kitchen.

"Yeah you do, it's on the kitchen table" She said walking over to the bottle.

"Good eye!" He told her as he grabbed the bottle and drank all of it which clearly shocked Rina. "…Hmm…it's a bit corky, it's better if you take water" He told her while shaking his head out of the dizziness that had just occurred to him.

"I'll guess I'll just have a _Bud_ instead" She said opening up the cupboards that had beer bottles in it.

"Wow you found it all!" He exclaimed and grabbed the _Budweiser_ and drank it all in one gulp. "Wow…that stuff is strong!" He said slurred as he gripped onto the fridge handle for support.

"…There's always _Heineken_" Rina muttered as she pulled one out.

"So that's where that was!" Ichigo shouted out drunkenly as he grabbed the bottle and like all the others, drank it all.

"Ok Ichigo, what's going on?" Rina asked him as she clearly couldn't have any alcohol or carbonated water for the matter.

"Don't act like you don't know!" He said stumbling back to where the kitchen table was.

"Know what?" She asked him confused.

"Oh come on, quit the charade already!" He told her as he pulled out a chair to sit on but landed on the floor instead.

"What's going on?" Byakuya asked them as he noticed the ruckus going on in the kitchen.

"I'm not sure" Rina responded.

"Do I have to spell it out for you?" Ichigo asked drunkenly. Rina and Byakuya looked at each other, confused.

"Yes please"

"Byaku…byukoo…dammit why do you have such a long name?!" Ichigo muttered angrily. "Your girlfriend here thinks it's all right to drink while she has another life with her!" He told him.

"Huh?" Rina asked confused.

"Oh, so that's what it's about…" Byakuya muttered.

"What?" Rina asked.

"He thinks you're pregnant" He told her.

"……why?!" Rina asked stunned.

"He found a pregnancy test in the garbage this morning" He explained.

"…and he assumed that _I _would be pregnant?" Rina asked.

"Mm-hm"

"…ok first, are you sure that it was a pregnancy test? You found it at 6 A.M. and second, what idiot would throw it into a kitchen garbage bin? That's unsanitary and really disgusting. Third, why did you automatically think it was me?" Rina asked Ichigo who was finding ants crawling across the table to be pretty exciting.

"You're right, it was probably just a stick and Ichigo was daydreaming of things I don't want to know of" Byakuya agreed.

"Yeah, you're probably right" Rina agreed as Ichigo started running after a butterfly.

* * *

"Hey Shiro-chan, wanna spar?" Tori asked him.

"Sure, nothing else to do anyways" He accepted the challenge and was about to head outside but Ichigo stopped them.

"What're you guys doing?" He asked them warily.

"Going out to spar" Tori told him.

"But you'll hurt someone!" He warned them.

"…That's the point of sparring" Hitsugaya told him.

"You could kill someone though!" He continued to warn them.

"…We aren't that weak!" Tori told him. "Besides we won't fight each other to that extent!" Tori rolled her eyes.

"I'm just saying, that once you lose your little one due to your recklessness, don't blame me" He told them. Both 10th Division members froze in their tracks.

"What?" They asked him.

"…Are you suggesting that I'm pregnant?" Tori asked him.

"…yeah…" Ichigo nodded his head.

"…Ichigo, have you been drinking?" Hitsugaya asked him giving him a queer look.

"Yes I have but it was just to prevent a baby from being born strangely…but then I found out that there was no baby…" Ichigo said.

"…I'm confused" Tori and Hitsugaya said in unison.

"Kurosaki-taichou, you need a lot of rest" Hitsugaya suggested.

"And maybe your meds too!" Tori added on.

* * *

"If it's not either of them…then there's only one person left…" Ichigo mumbled to himself staring up at the ceiling thinking only of who could be pregnant. He hadn't realized that Shinn and Emiko had walked in and were staring at him.

"What's daddy doing?" Emiko asked Shinn.

"I dunno some old person thing" Shinn answered.

"Renji, I'm gonna kill you!" Ichigo bolted up and yelled that out. He ran out without noticing his two little twins sitting on the floor.

"Huh, daddy's going to kill Tako-chan?" Emiko asked alarmed. "We're not going to let that happen, right Shinn?" She asked him.

"You bet!" Shinn said and they both ran out after their father.

-----

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" Renji roared at Ichigo who Rukia had to restrain in order to have both men alive after the whole argument.

"YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!" Ichigo shouted back.

"Ichigo, get a grip will you?!" Rukia shouted out strained from trying to keep a fight from breaking out. "Could you guys help me out here?!" Rukia asked the 3 Musketeers who were watching the argument unravel, eating popcorn and sipping on soda. "…Never mind…"

"DADDY!!" Emiko shrieked out, this caught his attention momentarily as he looked backwards to where his daughter was.

"WHAT THE--?!" He yelled out only to meet a football straight in his face. He fell down onto the floor from the strong impact.

"TOUCHDOWN!!" Shinn yelled out happily.

"We saved Tako-chan!!" Emiko cheered jumping up and down.

"Say what?" Rukia asked confused.

"Daddy said he was going to kill Tako-chan so we wanted to save him" Emiko explained.

"Ohh…I see…good job guys!" Rukia congratulated.

"Dad, are you okay?" Shinn asked him.

"…I'm…just fine…" Ichigo groaned sitting up with the football gripped in his hand.

"I love my family!" Rukia said happily hugging her two kids and Byakuya who looked like he really needed an aspirin. Ichigo stretched out his arms for a hug from Rukia who was giving hugs to everyone. "I'm okay" She told him, declining the hug from him again.

"What's wrong with my hugs?!"

"Oh yeah, mommy, daddy...we're out of blue popsicles!" Emiko shouted out to them.

"Ichigo you idiot" Renji muttered.


	4. There Were Better Nights

_Hiyas all! Took a while for this one...actually I was just too lazy to upload it...anyways!! Here it is, and if it isn't up to standards...oh well, I'll try to make it up in the next one. I so failed my math test ;-;

* * *

_"Rangiku, this is your 3rd time here already!" Tori told her as Rangiku walked into her little business again. She had already ventured in twice in the morning, now she was back for some other thing.

"I know, Tori. I have a hot date tonight and I wanna look the best I can possibly be!" She explained sitting down in a chair.

"Oh alright" Tori sighed. "But I'm charging you triple for coming in when my business is closed!" She warned her.

"Sure thing, I have the money!" Rangiku assured her not minding being charged a few extra dollars.

"Where do you get all that money?" Tori wondered. "So what do you want now? I already gave you a hair-cut, which included shampooing, so what now?" She asked her boredly.

"…Hmm…I'm thinking of adding streaks…" Rangiku said as she looked herself into the mirror. "What do you think?" She asked Tori.

"I think you're going to be bankrupt and I'm going to be rich" Tori replied with a slight smirk on her face.

"Whatever" Rangiku said analyzing a lock of hair. "Hey, I hear music!" She exclaimed hearing faint music; she started to look around wondering where the source was.

"Oh yeah, that's Emiko and Rina" Tori said. "Rina's teaching piano next door and Mika's teaching art too!" She told her. "It's a 3-way business to getting a lot of ka-ching!" Tori explained. "Well…actually it's a 4-way business" Tori muttered.

"4-way?" Rangiku asked confused.

"Rina and I work together in the music department but it's not for you" Tori said spinning Rangiku round and round in the chair.

"Huh?" Rangiku wondered what Tori meant that music wasn't for her.

* * *

"…Ok, now an A minor" Rina instructed Emiko as she scavenged for some old sheet music that she didn't use anymore. 

"…I don't get how someone can read all those squiggly lines" Ichigo said staring at the music notes confused.

"It's called skill, something you don't have much of" Rina told him. Ichigo muttered something indescribable to the Japanese language. "Make sure she practices everyday for at least half an hour Ichigo" Rina told him as Emiko finished up her scales.

"Yeah, yeah I know…she will even if I don't tell her" Ichigo said as Emiko ran to his side. "Ever since we got that piano, there's been nothing but practice" He muttered.

"See ya next week Emiko!"

"Bye!"

* * *

"Is there any reason why we have to draw our shoe?" Rikichi asked Mika who was teaching him art. 

"I dunno I had to do it all the time since there were no real art teachers in school!" Mika told him searching through all of her old art projects she had done.

"I find it really pointless though" He said.

"So do I…but you'll gain something from it…hopefully" Mika agreed with him. "Hey I guess I'll teach you anatomy next!" She told him as she found one of her old 'how-to' books.

"Do I have to draw shoes in that lesson?" Rikichi asked her.

"…no! Why, do you want to?" She asked him.

"Hell no!"

* * *

"Oh my god!" Rangiku shouted out unexpectedly. 

"WHAT?!" Tori yelled out being interrupted for the 4th time.

"Is that a wrinkle?" Rangiku asked looking at her face in the mirror.

"First you come for hair, and now it's your skin" Tori muttered.

"…Are you guys' dermatologists by any chance?" Rangiku wailed. "I think I'll need a botox injection!" She whined.

"…Botox is rat poison, you know that?" Tori asked her. Apparently Rangiku didn't know that. "It's practically rat poison since they tested it on rats and they puffed up. So unless you want poison in you, you might want to ignore it"

"Oh come on, it's just a myth!" Rangiku laughed it off.

"…Hope you like big needles…" Tori muttered.

* * *

"ALL RIGHT GUYS NIGHT!" Ichigo yelled out enthusiastically as he and 3 other captains sat around the kitchen table. 

"…How is it guys' night if the women are right next door?" Renji asked him.

"As long as we're separated by the walls, it's guys' night" Ichigo told him.

"I can't believe I decided to come out with these people" Hitsugaya muttered ready to hit them hard in the head.

"…You're telling me" Byakuya agreed with him. Somehow, those two captains had ended up joining Renji and Ichigo. Now they wondered why and were stuck for most of the evening with the two arguing men.

"Hey, don't come in here okay?!" Renji yelled out to the 4 girls out in the living room watching TV.

"Sure thing your majesty!" Mika replied sarcastically.

"Wait a minute…" Hitsugaya said suddenly raising his head and went into deep thought. "…IT'S HOCKEY SEASON!!" He shouted out causing everybody to jump up.

"You know what that means…" Ichigo said creating suspense as they grew silent and narrowed their eyes.

"GIVE US THE TV!!" They shouted out clambering into the living room…only to meet a Pikachu on the screen.

"But I'm watching Pokemon!" Nariko whined.

"It's a rerun who cares!" Ichigo told her as he snatched the remote.

"UNHAND THAT REMOTE!!" All 4 girls snapped at Ichigo and bore deep glares into his head.

"…What?" He asked confused.

"…It's called, its Pokemon time, if you wanna watch TV go into the rec. room, there's a TV there" Tori told them pointing the exit to them.

"Fine…if that's how you guys are going to act…" Hitsugaya grumbled as the 4 trudged to the room.

"There's a foosball table there!" Rina shouted out causing the 4 to bolt towards the room at the speed of light.

"Typical"

-----

"So who's winning?" Renji asked as he flung the handlebar forcibly causing the whole foosball table to shake violently.

"No idea, but there's a fight breaking out and that's all that matters" Hitsugaya told him.

"T-O!" Ichigo called so both he and Renji could see the fight unravel.

"…Damn that was short" Ichigo grumbled.

"Stupid referees…" Renji muttered getting back to the game.

"…I just realized something…" Hitsugaya spoke up again.

"…We forgot the beer" Byakuya finished for Hitsugaya.

"EGAD!" Both Ichigo and Renji gasped horrified. "You forgot the beer? WHEN IT'S HOCKEY SEASON?!" They shrieked. "Tell me you're joking!!" Ichigo told them nearly going crazy.

"Hey it's not just our fault, it's also yours for being so absorbed into your stupid foosball game" Byakuya pointed out.

"Well someone's gonna have to get it" Hitsugaya told them. "Right when the intermission starts" He added on.

"I vote for Ichigo" Renji said.

"Same" Both Byakuya and Hitsugaya agreed.

"Why me?!" Ichigo whined.

"The Rec. Room has spoken! You are going to get the beer!" Renji declared.

"Fine…" Ichigo grumbled. He opened the door so he would get out with ease. Immediately the sounds and voices of all the Pokemon filled the room. He shut it immediately with his face stark white. "This is a suicidal mission!" He told them.

"…You're right, you need back up…Renji back him up" Hitsugaya told him.

"Why me?" Renji whined.

"Because we are more important than you two" Byakuya replied for Hitsugaya.

"And we're stronger and smarter!" Hitsugaya added on.

"Psh, what're you talk—oh…nevermind…" Ichigo gripped onto the doorknob ready to pull on it when the intermission started.

"Remember it's just run in and run out" Hitsugaya reminded them.

"Ready…GO!"

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA****AAAAAAAAAAAA**

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA****AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH****HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH****HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!**" Both men charged into the kitchen yelling out a battle cry, they tackled the refrigerator and tugged on the handle.

"It's not opening what the hell?!" Renji started to panic.

"Just pull harder!!" Ichigo told him through gritted teeth. They pulled with all their might on the handle but to no avail. "Oh so that's how you wanna play huh?!" Ichigo muttered rolling up his sleeves and put both feet onto the door of the fridge and used all of his body weight to pull on it.

"Ichigo you're weak!" Renji laughed at him.

"…You're not doing anything" Ichigo pointed out.

"Shut up"

"…Uh can I get past to get the champagne?" Rina asked the 2 captains that had virtually attached themselves to the fridge.

"Well it won't open so you can't" Renji told her smartly.

"Oh just let me do it!" She pushed them aside, put her fingertips underneath the handlebar, and then pulled on it to open it. It opened to Renji's and Ichigo's amazement.

"DON'T CLOSE THAT!" Ichigo told her and wrenched open the door, grabbed the beer and ran all the way back to the rec. room.

-----

"You just made it, what took so long?!" Hitsugaya asked them.

"The 3 Musketeers rigged their fridge somehow and wouldn't open up for us" Ichigo said panting heavily.

"You guys forgot something…" Byakuya told them.

"WHAT?!" They shrieked horrified.

-----

"The guys are acting so weird" Rina told the 3 other girls as she returned with the bottle of champagne.

"Really, how so?" Rukia asked her.

"Well they ran off with the beer like 1 second ago" She told them "And now they're screaming about something" She said pointing out all the screaming down the hall.

"About what?" Tori asked curiously.

-----

"YOU FRIGGIN FORGOT THE DIP FOR THE CHIPS YOU DUMBASS!!" Renji roared at Ichigo shaking him back and forth violently.

"HOW IS IT MY FAULT?! YOU WERE IN THE KITCHEN TOO!!" Ichigo retorted.

-----

"…Food probably" Mika responded to Tori's question.

"Most likely" Rukia agreed.

-----

"WOULD YOU GUYS SHUT UP?!" Hitsugaya intercepted the violent verbal abuse unraveling. "There's always the next intermission!" He told them.

"Fine…" Ichigo grumbled and sat down in the convertible. "But I'm not going to get it!" He added on hastily.

"Yeah, you guys should go get it" Renji told Hitsugaya and Byakuya. Both captains shrugged and agreed to it.

"…Man I'm bored" Ichigo sighed and stared up at the ceiling.

"Wonder what the girls' are doing" Renji muttered.

"…I thought this was guys' night" Hitsugaya said confused.

"It is…except there's nothing to do" Ichigo told him. He got up and opened the door to be drowned out with the _My Little Pony_ theme song. "…Ok I'm not going out there!" Ichigo told them slamming the door shut.

"You won't have to, we are" Byakuya reminded him. "Since you guys are total wimps"

"Another fight!" Renji shouted out.

"LEMME SEE!"

* * *

"Pizza's here!" Mika declared bringing a large pizza into the living room.

"Finally!" Tori cheered.

"Nariko you can't drink champagne but you can have any of the fizzy sugary stuff in the kitchen" Rina told her.

"YES!!" She cheered and pulled out a 2L bottle of coke.

* * *

"INTERMISSION!" Renji yelled out to the 2 captains.

"We're on it!" Hitsugaya told him as he and Byakuya exited to grab the dip that was so desperately needed.

"Hey can you get us the dip?" Hitsugaya asked the girls who were having their little pizza party.

"Sure!" Tori said and grabbed the bowl of dip out from the fridge and gave it to them.

"Thanks" He thanked her and started to go back but the smell of the hot pizza just broke them down.

"Can we--?" They asked them.

"Knock yourself out" Rukia said handing the box over. They grabbed two pieces and walked back to the Rec. Room.

"HOW COME YOU GUYS HAVE PIZZA?" Renji and Ichigo asked them. Though they were happy that they got the dip, they were upset that they didn't get any pizza.

"Because we braved the treacherous living room" Hitsugaya told him.

"We're gonna go and get some" Renji decided standing up.

"You have a minute" Byakuya warned them.

"Oh crap" Ichigo groaned once he heard the voices of _Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses_.

"This is so not fair" Renji grumbled. They were hesitant of retreating since there was pizza at stake. "Remember, run in, run out that's it" He told the plan to Ichigo.

"Right" Ichigo nodded his head.

They walked calmly to the living room but the sight of what was on the TV burned their eyes. They had to improvise; they somersaulted across the room, behind the couches so that they wouldn't be seen. They lay down on their bellies and grabbed the rug and tugged on it to drag the pizza box closer to them—discreetly of course. They had to abandon their little plan when one of the girls shifted in their seat slightly. They breathed a sigh of relief as they weren't spotted. They continued their little mission and pulled harder to get the pizza box. Nariko coughed for a while. "_**Robitussin!!**_" Renji and Ichigo said in unison. "Oh crap!" They said quickly and hid under cover when the girls became suspicious and looked around. "It's nothing…I guess" Rukia concluded. "Phew!" Ichigo and Renji sighed a breath of relief. "Ok, on three!" Ichigo said. "One…two…" They counted slowly. "HEY WHAT THE HELL IS BRAD PITT DOING ON THE TV?!" They both roared totally blowing their cover and freaking out the girls. As the 2 captains fumed, the other two walked in wondering what was taking so long.

"What does he have that we don't?" Renji asked them. The girls looked back at the TV, and then back at Ichigo and Renji…they repeated this for quite a while.

"You really don't want to know" Mika told him as the other females agreed.

"…_Pirates of the Caribbean_?" Hitsugaya read off the DVD's that were on the table waiting to be watched.

"Johnny Depp?!" The men shrieked.

"WHAT THE HELL'S WRONG WITH YOU GUYS?!" The girls yelled back.

"What's wrong with _us_? What's wrong with you guys?!" The guys yelled back. "You decide to watch movies including these people, what else, do you guys watch sports too?" They asked.

"Yes we watch sports, so what?" Rukia asked.

"It's just a one-sided love anyways; every girl has a fangirl inside of them…even the emo ones…" Mika said.

"Yeah, besides we're going out with you guys, don't have to get so worked up about it" Tori told them.

"Yeah…well…still!" They countered.

"Aren't you guys missing your game?" Rina asked them.

"OH CRAP!" They yelled out and ran back to the rec. room.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMYPIZZA!!" Renji and Ichigo yelled out as they were forcefully dragged away by Byakuya and Hitsugaya.

"Geez, like we'd actually watch _Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses!_" The girls laughed as soon as the men were out of earshot.

* * *

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap… Ichigo thumped the desk irritably with his forefinger from his frustration over something so trivial. Well, he wasn't the only one…the other 3 were doing rhythmic-type physical poking on an inanimate object. "Ichigo!" Rukia called out from outside the room.

"What do you want?" He asked gruffly still quite pissed off.

"Your kids wanna say good night to you, that's what" She told him handing him the phone.

"Hi daddy!" Shinn and Emiko yelled through the phone loud enough to make him deaf.

"…I thought you guys were supposed to be sleepy, not hyped up on sugar!" He told them.

"Umm...yeah…" They mumbled nervously. "We just wanted to say good night daddy!" Emiko practically screamed into the receiver.

"Good night to you too" Ichigo responded meekly as he recouped from the sudden shout out.

"And we also want to say that we love you and that you're the bestest daddy in the whole wide world!" Emiko added on.

"AWWWWWWWW--!!"

"Shh! They're talking to me!" Ichigo hissed at the people that were in or partially in the room.

"Geez, somebody's hogging all the attention" Rukia muttered.

"Are you crying dad?" Shinn asked curiously through the phone.

"N-no! Why?" Ichigo asked quickly rubbing his eye and sniffed.

"It sure seems like you are" Shinn replied.

"I-its not me! It's Renji, you know how he is, a big baby" Ichigo told him quickly; Renji started to glare daggers into Ichigo.

"True, true" Hitsugaya agreed and Byakuya nodded with the remark agreeing with both captains; Renji started to glare daggers at _them_.

"Daddy, it's not right to tell lies" Emiko scolded him in a tattletale voice.

"Ooooohhhhhh snap!"

"I'm not telling lies! It's not right to accuse someone Emiko" Ichigo told her.

"But you _were_ crying!" Emiko protested.

"That was Renji" Ichigo reminded her.

"IT WAS ICHIGO EMIKO NOT ME!" Renji yelled out to her.

"OK fine it wasn't Renji!" Ichigo surrendered. "It was your mother" Ichigo told her.

"Ichigo!" Rukia yelled out.

"Hey it's perfectly fine when a girl is crying not a guy" Ichigo told her.

"How so?" The 3 musketeers stepped in.

"If a guy cries then people would just think of us as wimps" Ichigo explained.

"No we wouldn't!" The girls responded. "We'd find it cute!" They told him starry-eyed.

"You would?" The other 3 captains blurted out unexpectedly. "Uh…we mean that…uh…" They stammered unable to cover up what had already been said.

"Way to keep your dignity as a man" Ichigo scoffed.

"Says the one that cries after hearing his little kids say good night to him" Hitsugaya said smartly.

"And the phone's still on!" Tori laughed at Ichigo who had the phone still on and his kids had heard the whole awkward conversation.

"You're weird dad" Emiko and Shinn told him before hanging up on Ichigo leaving him speechless.


	5. Chapter 5

"Come on Rukia, we don't have all night!!" Ichigo shouted out to Rukia who was in the bathroom for a grand total of 30 minutes.

"Just give me a second!" She responded. "What would look better, black or blue?" She asked him through the door.

"Whichever one will get us out here faster!" He responded absentmindedly.

"Ichigo just give this some serious thought!" She told him as she stepped out of the bathroom in a silky white robe and showed him two dresses, one was black and one was a royal blue.

"Uhh…blue" Ichigo said without giving it a second's thought.

"Really?" Rukia asked him.

"Yes, now get changed so we can get out of here" Ichigo told her.

"Alright, I didn't think you'd be so ecstatic to go to an opera, I thought you'd find it boring" Rukia said.

"Nah, I love operas!" Ichigo stated with sarcasm dripping from his words. "I hear it every time I pass those lieutenant meetings of yours" He added on looking down at his watch.

"That'd be Yachiru forcing the males to sing and lighten up more, especially the strict uptight ones…" Rukia told him stepping out of the bathroom in the royal blue dress.

"Finally!" Ichigo said getting up and headed towards the door.

"Now which purse…?" Rukia pondered.

"Noo!!!" Ichigo moaned.

"Can't I look good for an occasion like this?" Rukia asked with her hands on her hips.

"You always look great sweetie, now just grab one and let's go!" Ichigo told her.

"Which one, black or silver?" She asked holding them up. "And give it some serious thought this time" She added on.

"You want me to think this through huh, well okay…" Ichigo started to pace back and forth the room casting curious glances at the purses as if they were some sort of animal to be chosen to become a pet. "Hmm…" Ichigo got down on one knee, rested his head on his closed fist, with his elbow on the raised knee. Rukia rolled her eyes at his posture. "Silver" He decided at last.

"Are you sure?" She asked him staring at it doubtfully.

"Yes I'm sure, I even did 'The Thinker'" He tried to reason with her.

"Okay then…silver it is" She told him.

"Yes now can we go?" Ichigo asked her motioning towards the door.

"No wait, now I have to change my dress!" She told him heading for the bathroom.

"Why?" Ichigo whined.

"Because you didn't give much thought on the dress, I'll only take a minute" She told him.

"No…!" Ichigo moped.

----

"My god your sister is so vain!" Ichigo sighed having his palm slide down his face from impatience as he sat on the couch to the left of where Byakuya and Rina were sitting not paying any attention to him.

"You don't say" They both muttered flipping the pages of the newspapers as they read it.

"Yeah no seriously, the opera starts in an hour and she's not ready yet" Ichigo continued on not realizing that no one was listening to him.

"Good luck with that" Both 6th division members muttered half-heartedly.

"Ok, I'm ready!" Rukia said walking into the living room where Ichigo was waiting for her.

"Ok, let's go then!" Ichigo said putting on a fake little smile on as he led her towards the door.

As soon as the door slammed shut and Rukia and Ichigo were out of the vicinity, Byakuya and Rina threw down the newspapers and sighed in relief.

"I never want to read about politics again!" Rina sighed. "Man the newspapers are so boring!" She added on.

"I know what you mean" Byakuya agreed with her. "The comics weren't even funny" He said showing her the newspaper comics that he apparently was reading. She gave him a blank stare like she was sitting next to an alien.

"And you say _**I**_ have to act my age!" She muttered.

"Alright, alright" Byakuya said getting up. "Call the other 4 to come now" He told her.

"Ok" She answered and grabbed the dog whistle that was rested on the coffee table in front of her. "They insisted I use this" Rina explained rolling her eyes as she blew into it. They heard a lot of barking from outside.

"Choose the movies too" He directed her.

"Alright" She pulled out the movies from her bag that was on the floor leaning against the couch.

"And when I say movies I mean no: Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, and no Will Smith" He told her stressing his points very clearly.

"Not Will Smith!" Rina whined in despair.

"Rina" Byakuya said with a serious face.

"Fine" She pouted putting half of the movies away back into her bag. "And just for the record, you guys are gonna have to watch all the Disney and horror movies that we picked out today" She added on. Byakuya flinched once he heard that they would watch Disney movies; he continued to walk towards the kitchen to grab some stuff. He returned shortly with a banana split in his hands. He handed it over to Rina.

"Aw you didn't have to do that!" She told him as she accepted her treat.

"Really?" He asked her.

"Yes you did" She added on quickly.

"WE'RE HERE!!" 2 high pitched voices shouted on from a puff of smoke.

Tori, Mika, Hitsugaya and Renji appeared from the cloud of smoke.

"You bring em?" Rina asked them sitting up from the couch.

"Yup!" Mika nodded with a widespread grin on her face as she lifted up a large bag of stuff.

"…Guess I should pull out the sofa bed then" Rina said to herself. So while she set up the sofa bed, the 2 other captains in the room set up the portable mattresses and they brought a lot so the whole living room floor was practically on stilts and padded. Tori and Mika started bouncing up and down on the mattresses…they had landed on the zoned-out captains multiple times.

"OW!!" They yelped.

"Wait, Mika do that again" Renji told her lying flat on his stomach, Mika jumped onto his back multiple times.

"Ah that hit the spot" He said in a daze from his 'massage'.

"Cheapskate" Byakuya said discreetly in a cough.

"What was that?!" Renji asked him looking up. One simple glare from his former captain shut Renji up for the next 10 minutes.

"Pillow fight!" Tori declared shooting a pillow at her beloved Shiro-chan. Obviously Tori didn't know her strength since Hitsugaya was knocked off the mattresses and onto the floor. "Shiro-chan?" Tori asked peering down below at her lifted perch.

"Take that!" He shouted out shooting the pillow back at her knocking her back on to her backside onto the softest and bounciest part of the 'bed'.

"Hey!" She shouted out and started smacking him with the pillows.

"Ok, ok I give!" He surrendered after being aerial assaulted with the pillows.

"Ok!" Tori beamed proudly of her accomplishment.

"So what're we watching first?" Renji asked wondering.

"Dunno, half the movie selections were automatically disqualified thanks to your jealousy towards some great actors" Rina told them as she and the two other females shot glares at the captains who acted as if they had no idea whatsoever of what they were talking about.

"CANNONBALL!!" A male voice shouted out as three blobs appeared suddenly and crash landed on to the so called bed.

"Emiko, Shinn?" Rina exclaimed. "I thought you guys were sleeping" Rina added on confused.

"Nope we were just faking, mom and dad don't pay attention to those small details" Emiko beamed.

"Ok, but Nariko, I thought you were with Rangiku" She said turning her attention to her niece.

"I got her drunk and got bored so I came here" Nariko told her alibi.

"Nice" Mika said giving her a high-five.

"How about you guys choose the movies?" Tori decided.

"OK!" They scampered off to the movie pile and stared at the covers.

"What's _The Little Mermaid_?" Emiko asked wonderingly.

Everyone became silent and stared at her in disbelief. She was confused at why she had all the attention all the sudden.

"What's _The Little Mermaid_?" Tori repeated in shock. Emiko nodded her head.

"Yeah and what's _Pinocchio_?" Shinn added on. "Wait isn't that the weird tall skinny dude that says he's the strongest Espada?" He wondered out loud.

"You've never watched Disney before" Mika stated clearly in shock.

"Nope, the grandpas say that they're too immature for nobles" Emiko explained.

"…Okay tonight we are watching all the Disney movies no objections!" Tori declared and flicked on the TV so that they could watch _Pinocchio_.

"No…!" The 3 captains moped and shielded their heads with a pillow fortress.

"Almost forgot these guys" Rina said putting her empty bowl on the side table and grabbed the bundle of stuff that Mika had brought along. She dumped out the contents which included 3 wrapped up objects. Tori tackled the baby blue bundle, Mika grabbed the black bundle and Rina grabbed the scarlet bundle.

"What's in them?" Hitsugaya asked wonderingly as he had no clue as to what they were.

The girls unwrapped the bundles and out fell: stuffy pandas, puppies and penguins.

"Oh…typical" Renji muttered witnessing the plushies.

"What, they're family!" Mika told them.

"Family?" Renji asked not believing her.

"Yeah!"

"Whatever…"

"And you guys have to watch these with us since you guys graciously narrowed down our movie selections for the night!" Rina told them sweetly but with a hint of evil in her voice and pulled the guys out from behind their pillow shield.

"Like you guys can make us stay out here and watch it all" Hitsugaya smirked not thinking that 3 highly immature females could force them into watching Disney movies for the whole night.

"Hmm…that's why you guys are giving the kids pony rides after!" Tori told them gleefully.

"Huh?" They asked in shock.

"YEAH!!" The 3 kids cheered happily.

"Shinn you're a guy, don't lose your dignity as a man to a pony ride!" Renji hissed over to him.

"I know that, you're not going to be a pony!" He told him smartly. "You're going to be a dragon!!" He told Renji.

"Oh joy…" Renji muttered sliding his palm down his face from his 'smart thinking'. Suddenly he was tackled from behind by Mika who was grinning from ear to ear.

"I'm first!" She declared.

"Mika!" Renji yelled out from his sudden assault.

"What?" She asked him innocently.

"Could you at least **TRY** to act your age?!" Renji asked her lifting his head up.

"Where's the fun in that?" She asked him folding her arms across her chest.

"Trust me, everyone will like it" Renji told her.

"I don't think so…" Mika told him with a look of uncertainty.

"…Fine here's your pony ride…" Renji mumbled giving up realizing that even if the conversation had dragged out even further they wouldn't have made any progress at all.

"…We said AFTER the movies, not now!" Tori told Renji throwing a fluffy pillow at his head. Renji collapsed onto his stomach and groaned from his stupidity. Mika whined from the sudden breakdown and demanded a pony ride from Renji but, Renji held his ground. Mika sighed and gave in, but made Renji pinky swear that he'd give her a pony ride after the movies.

10 movies later, the 3 captains were jumping back and forth between consciousness and unconsciousness. They just couldn't stand to watch another movie that involved fairies, mermaids, monkeys, talking animals etc. They could've just fallen asleep 5 movies ago but the one thing that kept them from doing so were 3 hyperactive children that kept jumping around and screaming their heads off for no apparent reason. And The 3 Musketeers prevented them from doing so by turning them into human pillows (a human pillow is a person that has been stripped of their rights as a person and become a pillow…happened to me before and it hurts…especially if kids are jumping on you). If the captains thought they were suffering at merely 10 Disney movies, they would have to ready themselves for the rest of them.

"…Are you dead?" Tori asked Hitsugaya whose eyes were glazed over and had lost its perky shine to it.

"I will be if I have to endure anymore movies like that" Hitsugaya murmured quietly as he blinked a couple to times in order to stay awake. He sat upright figuring out that all the Disney movies had been run through once. He sighed in relief knowing that his brain would shut off on him if they were anymore.

"Looks like we're onto horror!!" Tori cheered grabbing the 4 movies that were left in the pile that were to be watched. "Only 4 movies left?" Tori wondered out loud scratching her head in confusion at how the pile had shrunk in only a few hours. She then remembered that there was originally double the number of movies however they were 'forbidden' as long as the 3 captains were present. "God I hate you guys…" Tori grumbled as she popped in _1408_ into the DVD player. "Don't worry these aren't scary at all" Tori assured the 3 as she noticed the tiniest look of fear on their faces.

"Yeah, man up and watch it!" Shinn told them standing up. Everyone stared at Shinn in shock.

"You heard da man!" Mika shot out backing up the toddler.

"Geez, we're not scared of anything!" The 3 males told them quite proudly.

"Not even the boogieman?" Rina asked them.

"HEY THAT'S A MYTH!!" They shouted out defensively.

"Ok…" Mika and Tori said in unison looking at each other with a raised eyebrow. The movie started playing however it only showed the FBI Warnings and such…it was quite strange since there was no FBI in Soul Society…it should've been the Keigun Warnings. Anyways, right before the main menu showed up, the phone rang. Byakuya grabbed it after the first ring and answered it hastily.

"Yo Byakuya!" Ichigo's voice shouted out. "I just remembered that the other people are supposed to be over there and we just wanted to remind you guys something" Ichigo told them. By now, Byakuya had put him on speakerphone and everyone was listening in. "KEEP IT CLEAN AND G-RATED IN THERE!!" Ichigo shouted out causing everyone to jump a little. After hearing his unnecessary comment they glared daggers in the phone; shocked that he would accuse them of such…activity.

"ICHIGO!!" Rukia's voice was heard, and after what seemed to be a couple whacks to the head for Ichigo who moaned in response—they hung up after.

"Perverted strawberry…" Renji grumbled and focused his attention back onto the screen as did everyone else.

"Wait, we can't watch it with the kids here" Rina pointed out to the 3 innocent children sitting cross legged behind them.

"True…Ichigo and Rukia would kill us if they found out we let them watch…" Tori agreed picking up a DVD case and read out the name "SAW IV" She read out causing the 3 captains to stare at the girls like they were freaks of nature.

"What?" They asked innocently. They sighed and shook their heads in response.

"Why can't we stay up?" Emiko asked in a whiny voice.

"It's already past midnight" They said simply.

"Aww…10 more minutes!!" They protested.

"Yeah we'll be good!" Nariko added on.

"I highly doubt that" Renji muttered sitting up, straightening out his back that had been beaten up by 3 hyped up children.

"If you build us a fort then we'll go sleep!" Emiko piped up.

"What kind of fort are you talking about?" Renji asked curiously.

"You know, the simplistic ones that you guys are only capable of constructing" Shinn told them with his arms folded against his chest. Everyone stared at him with an eyebrow raised once again; since Shinn had just said 3 words that were more than 4 letters long. "What?!" He asked confused from the sudden attention.

"Shinn, you're freaking us out" Renji told him on their behalf. "First you tell us to 'man up' and watch the movies" He pointed out; everyone else nodded agreeing with him. "And then you use 3 words that only 3 people know of in this room!" He told him. The 3 girls looked up at Renji and wondered who the only 3 people that knew of the words, simplistic, capable and constructing were.

"Right…uh…who are they?" Mika asked him curiously.

"US no duh!" Renji said pointing to him and the 2 other captains in the room.

"Yeah right!" Rina laughed at him. "You guys had to ask me what _L'ere de glace _(Ice Age) meant!" She pointed out.

"…We're Japanese, we don't know French. We died way before we knew that there was a place called France!" Hitsugaya shouted out in defense.

"…You're not that old!!" Tori told him smacking his head.

"Okay fine I made that up, but I STILL don't know French!" Hitsugaya spoke back.

"So what makes you guys think that you guys actually know those 3 words?" Renji asked.

"CUZ we know…Japanese, English, French, Chinese, Baby Language and PENGUIN!" They told them for their defense.

"…Penguin?" They asked in disbelief.

"Yeah to say hello you say "kwagucawga!" Mika told them.

"What?" Renji asked scratching his head confused.

"Don't worry Renji, Penguin is only for the pros" Mika comforted him patting his head.

"If you guys are as smart as you guys say you are, then tell us what simplistic means" Byakuya spoke up.

"Characterized by extreme simplism; in other words…oversimplified" Rina told him in dictionary language. "Jeez, you guys are so proud that you guys can't even admit that we're actually SMARTER than you guys" She added on with a 'psh'. "Not to mention that you guys are extremely possessive" She added on rolling her eyes.

"OK ANYWHO!!!" Tori and Mika nearly shouted out grabbing the attention. "Let's make us a fort!!" They shouted out throwing pillows and blankets up into the air. They fell on top of them completely cloaking them.

"Woo hoo--!" Hitsugaya and Renji cheered with little enthusiasm.

After 10 minutes of struggling to get the blankets pinned up so that they covered the whole entire ceiling, and making sure the pillows didn't make the blankets sag to a side or something like that, they completed it.

"So what now?" Hitsugaya asked looking around.

"…Well you guys are supposed to go to bed" Renji said to the 3 kids.

"I want a bedtime story first!" Emiko demanded.

"I need cheese!" Shinn told them.

"Cheese?" Renji asked.

"It helps me sleep" Shinn told him.

"…O…K…"

"I go home with them" Nariko said pointing to the 3 Musketeers gawking at magazines that held pictures of Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp and such.

"Gimme that!!" The 3 captains roared and snatched the magazine away and threw it out of the room. The Musketeers gasped in shock and horror at what they had done.

"Are you insane?!" They asked.

"NO it's called we're being protective!" Hitsugaya told them.

"…And being protective is good how?" Mika asked him.

"We don't want…other guys taking you girls away" They muttered blushing slightly and looked away embarrassed.

"…Ok protective is good!" They agreed.

"…So are you guys going?" Renji asked the kids.

"…Can we jump out all this extra energy first?" Shinn asked him.

"Uhh…I guess…" Renji shrugged not knowing what the outcome would be.

Well the jumped, and bounced and it didn't seem like they were tiring out at all. The seemingly harmless jumping thing that they were turning somehow turned into a pillow fight which evolved to a war-like game where'd they tackle the older people and push them off of the mattresses. Then it slowly descended to a dodge-pillow game.

"Why do kids have so much energy?" Rina asked quite fearfully as she and all the other shinigami huddled on one side of the room while the 3 other kids were on the other finding joy in assaulting pillows.

"Because…they just are" Byakuya responded.

"OW!" Mika yelped suddenly.

"What?" Renji asked her with concern since he wasn't squeezing her arm too tight from fright or something.

"It's my arm" She told them wincing slightly, she rolled up her right sleeve to reveal a tear-drop shaped emblem on her forearm.

"What's that?" Renji asked peering over her shoulder.

"I'm not sure anymore…" Mika responded. Suddenly it glowed a bright blue which illuminated part of the room. "What the hell?!" Mika shrieked fearfully.

"Ahh!" Tori yelped and grasped her right shoulder and fell forward. She rolled up her sleeve to reveal the feather emblem glow a bright green.

"What's going on?" Hitsugaya wondered as the kids stopped bouncing around to see their babysitters go into a painful spasm.

"What the hell is going on?!" Rina asked as the flame emblem on her palm in her right hand was glowing an intense red.

"You can use Cero?!" Renji asked her in amazement. Rina shot him a look of pure evil since it was definitely not the time to joke around. Renji was taken back by surprise slightly; he tried to comfort Mika as best he could but the pain that she was going through was too unbearable for her. The symbols glowed brighter and brighter by the passing seconds.

"WHADDAWEDOWHADDAWEDOWHADDAWEDO--?!" The kids ran around screaming.

"ALL OF YOU BE QUIET!!" The captains yelled at them; they stopped yelling and running and looked at them.

"Just go to your room for now" Byakuya instructed them. They obeyed without question and left the room.

Hitsugaya clamped his hand over Tori's shoulder, where the symbol was. What he felt there slightly amazed him. Instead of feeling just nothing, he felt a mild breeze from it. It was strange since Tori was going through so much pain but all he could feel was a tiny breeze…like the wind blowing very slowly on a calm day. "Tori just try to relax" He told her.

"What the hell do you think I'm trying to do?!" She asked him through clenched teeth.

Trying to make them relax was futile as it was just too hard for them to relax. As the lights gradually became brighter and brighter, the pain intensified as well; the captains had no clue as to what to do. Nothing like this had ever occurred in Soul Society to them—at least to their knowledge nothing had ever happened—calling Unohana-taichou would take too long and would probably be a risky factor too. They couldn't just sit back and watch so they had to think of something else.

"…You know those Disney movies?" Renji spoke up after a minute.

"What about them?" Hitsugaya asked him.

"You know how like a kiss fixes the problem for everything?" Renji asked them.

"Yeah…" They said slowly getting his point—they had to pull a Sleeping Beauty/Snow White.

Well luckily for them the girls were now unconscious. How was that a good thing? Well, it was a lot easier than to try to kiss a violently thrashing girl for one thing. Though they were unconscious, that didn't mean the symbols had stopped glowing, they just continued…at the moment they were at a very light color range, nearly turning into white light. They leaned in and kissed them on the lips ever so gently; just as they had predicted, the bursts of light dissipated leaving the symbol on their arms to remain just as they were before.

"EWWW!!!!" Emiko, Shinn and Nariko groaned from the sight—apparently they were peeking in.

"Oh grow up!" Renji told them.

"Yeah, besides you should be in your rooms!" Hitsugaya added on.

"See, I told you this would happen Rukia!" Ichigo yelled out poking his head into the fort. The 3 captains ignored Ichigo's juvenile comment, picked up the girls and preceded out the door to bring them home.

"Ichigo, these 3 captains are way smarter and mature than you. They'd never do anything like that until after they're married or something!" Rukia told them with her arms folded across her chest. Ichigo gawked at her insult towards him.

"Rukia!!" Ichigo gasped. "You didn't have to go into detail!" He whined; Rukia raised an eyebrow at his strange reaction.

"Are you _sure_ that you didn't have any alcohol during the intermissions?" Rukia asked him confused. Ichigo became quiet and tried to avoid further interrogation.

"Nariko, come with us" Renji told her as he and the other 2 were leaving for the girls' home. She nodded and jumped on top of Renji's head. Renji grumbled something but cooperated with Nariko being on his head.

---

"You felt that right?" Daichi asked the bat and wolf who in turn, nodded in response.

"Those 3 are going to have to control their emotions a lot better than they are now…" Hiroshi muttered staring outside the window as he usually did.


	6. Chapter 6

"Agh, what did I ever do to deserve this?" Rina groaned to herself as she walked into her office to see a large mound of paperwork ready for her to work on. She also had a massive splitting headache that just worsened her day; to top it off…she woke up BEFORE her alarm clock rang! "…Wow, I'm here before Kookaburra" She commented sitting at her desk and grabbed her brush. "…This has to be one freaky nightmare!"

"Taichou said that he would come back sometime around noon" Rikichi said poking his head into the room. "Oh and he told me that he wanted you to review this file report" He said handing her a folder of stuff.

"What is it?" She questioned looking into it.

"The new recruits information; he wants you to train them to see where they excel and lack" Rikichi explained. Rina sighed at the newfound work that she had just obtained, she nodded and Rikichi left immediately.

"You are so dead Byakuya" Rina said through clenched teeth glaring daggers into his empty desk

"READY OR NOT HERE WE COME!!" 5 very loud voices shouted out gaining Rina's attention. She stared at the door as it blew off and landed with a loud thunk on the floor. She stared at it for a while before looking at the 5 intruders—Rangiku, Mika, Tori, Hinamori and Yachiru. "IT'S YOUR TURN!" Rangiku shouted out slamming an empty bottle onto her desk with a widespread grin on her face.

"For what?" Rina asked confused resting her head on her hand staring boredly at her.

"Spin the bottle duh!" Rangiku said rolling her eyes. Rina gave her another blank stare before speaking up again.

"…There are only girls here" She told her.

"Rina, if I didn't know that, then I'd have to be insane!" Rangiku laughed. "Where ever the bottle points we go in that direction and grab the first guy we see!" She explained.

"…This has to be against the law…" Rina grumbled glancing at the 4 other girls behind Rangiku who were really into the game. "I'd love to play but I have a lot of stuff to do" She explained pointing at the large mound of paper to her right and waved the file in Rangiku's face.

"Psh, since when do you do work?!" Rangiku asked and shoved the papers off the desk and flicked the file out of Rina's hands. Rina was about to protest again when a hell butterfly flew in and landed on her desk. She took the message and got up to leave the room.

"Hey where are you going?!" Tori asked her.

"The old fart has a little mission for me" Rina told them with a slight smirk as she had been bailed out of a game from Yamamoto—a definite first and only.

"Let's get Rukia!" Yachiru decided as the 4 others dashed out after her.

---

"God, where's Hinamori?" Ichigo thought out loud as he covered his face with his hand. For the last hour she hadn't shown up at all. Now usually, Ichigo could depend on Hinamori to be on time and able to do her share of the work. But suddenly, out of the blue she just ditched her responsibilities and he had to cope with it.

"ICHIGO!!" Someone screamed out as if in a panic. He looked at the door at where the sound had come from. Instantly, as his eyes had lain on the doors, it slammed open with a frantic Rukia dashing in. She ran and hid behind Ichigo—he was even more confused than he usually was.

"What's going on?" He asked looking behind him to see Rukia ducking behind his chair.

"RUKIA!!" Someone shouted out, Ichigo whipped around to see Hinamori peer into the office.

"Hinamori, finally you've decided to show up!" Ichigo shouted out joyously flinging his arms up in the air as a sign of relief.

"Huh?" Hinamori stared at her captain with a queer look that she usually used daily. In a flash her arms held a stack of papers. "What's all this?" She wondered picking up a folder and read the contents.

"Stuff that has to be done for today" He told her; he suddenly felt a little tug on his hakama. He looked down to see Rukia—still ducked behind the chair—mouthing the words 'help me'. Ichigo caught on quickly and interrogated Hinamori who had placed the papers on her desk. "Were you playing a game?" He asked her.

"Uh, yeah it was Spin the Bottle; it was Rukia's turn but she ran off and now we're looking for her" She told him. "How'd you know?" Hinamori asked him.

"Just a hunch and what do you mean by '_we'_?" He asked her. He got his answer instantly as Rangiku, Tori, Mika and Yachiru stormed in whipping their heads around looking for Rukia.

"Did Rukia come here?" Yachiru asked keenly.

"Uh…" Ichigo stuttered as Rukia told him to say no. "No" He responded.

"…Where could she be?" Tori wondered out loud.

"Maybe she's at 9th, pestering Renji…" Ichigo suggested uncertain.

"Good idea!" With that, they ran off—Hinamori ditched Ichigo once again much to his misfortune.

"Thank you so much!" Rukia said standing up giving him a hug. "I have to go back now, I doubt taichou can manage babysitting Emiko and Shinn for 5 minutes" She told him.

"You know I can watch Shinn over here" Ichigo pointed out to her. She gave him a faint smile but didn't respond verbally to him as she left the division. "Am I doing something wrong?" Ichigo wondered. He had expected an answer from someone he turned his head over to where Hinamori's desk was and finally realized that she had ditched him. "Agh!"

---

Somewhere deep within the dark shadows of hell—the library, were 3 captains in a mess of books scattered all over the floor. Barely anybody entered the library anymore since there were never any huge tragedies or life-changing events that needed any background knowledge of. In fact, many people just came here for a hideout from work. That was the true purpose of Seireitei's library now.

"Nothing again…" Toshiro muttered as he put a book aside on a growing pile of books as he grabbed another from the shelf. "Oi, weren't these guys considered middle class families or something?" Toshiro asked Byakuya who was skimming through the book swiftly.

"They were, until they left Seireitei that is" He responded.

"Then how come there isn't any info on these guys at all?" Renji wondered scratching his head.

"Well they were basically kicked out of here for some odd 'terrifying secret' as Yamamoto-soutaichou says" Toshiro reminded him. "Wonder why he hasn't told us yet…" He continued.

"Doesn't your family have any records of these people?" Renji asked Byakuya knowing that his family did have some records that were kept private. Byakuya stopped and thought about it for a moment.

"There may be…" He told him.

"'There may be…' what kind of half-assed response is that?!" Renji grumbled to himself.

"Excuse me, Kuchiki-taichou, Hitsugaya-taichou, Abarai-taichou, might I be of any assistance to you?" A librarian asked them as she peered down the aisle.

"Sure" Renji shrugged. "Are there any records of old families that no longer live in Seireitei here?" He asked her. She gave him a look of bewilderment from the request.

"I can go check if you'd like" She offered. The 3 nodded their heads as she left in search of …whatever they were looking for.

---

"Man it's so boring here!!!!" Mika and Tori whined in despair as they slumped down onto the floor.

"There has to be something worthwhile for us to do!" Rangiku muttered trying to think of something.

"I know!" Yachiru shouted out suddenly.

"What?!"

"Let's have a Shinigami Women's Association Meeting!!" She declared.

"…Don't we have those every frickin day now?" Mika asked her.

"So, I like them!" Yachiru beamed.

"That's cuz you're the president and we have to do whatever you say…" Rangiku grumbled folding her arms across her chest.

"Let's just go visit the formers" Hinamori decided walking down the hall.

"All right, we get the visit the 3 Blind Mice" Tori said unenthusiastically.

"Only one of them is blind though…" Mika pointed out.

"Don't worry Mika; we can make the other two blind too!" Rangiku said joining in the conversation. "All we need is lasers and a bunch of idiots!" She told them with a wink as she ushered the two down the hall.

---

"You wanted to see me, Yamamoto-soutaichou?" Rina asked as she slid open the door to Yamamoto's office. She felt weird using honorifics since she never usually called people formally with their actual names. It was usually 5-year old nicknames that she used.

"You're actually on time…" He commented as he faced her. She gave an annoyed pout as she closed the door and walked towards his desk. She realized that there were 5 other people in the room as well; she didn't really recognize them as they were all from different divisions. Noticing her confusion, Yamamoto got straight to the point. "I called you here because I trust that you are able to complete this assignment without any problems" He started off gaining her attention. "As you know, the hollows are acting suspicious with their sudden activity—and we suspect that the Espada that Aizen had left behind are behind this. You and 5 other officers are going to patrol Karakura Town for any hollows. We have noticed that hollows usually head there first due to all the people with noticeable reiatsu" He stopped so that she could absorb this all in. The people he was referring to were obviously Kurosaki Isshin, Urahara Kisuke, Shihouin Yoruichi, Ishida Ryuuken and some of Ichigo's former classmates. "You will leave tomorrow at dawn, should there be any problems down there; you know what to do" He told her. "Any questions?" He asked her figuring that she would have some questions.

"Yeah, is it necessary that 6 shinigami go there despite the fact that they're already people down there with high reiatsu?" She asked him. He gave a slight smirk before responding.

"You should know this Tsukiyomi, you tell me this almost every time I tell you to do something" He told her looking up at her. "People have lives, you can't expect everybody to have spare time on their hands" He told her.

"Ohh…right" She rolled her eyes at it. "Alright then, we'll be gone at dawn" She told him as she turned to exit.

"One more thing" He started up again; she turned her head slightly to look at him. "Don't lose control of yourself" He told her. Rina's eyes widened slightly at his comment knowing exactly what he was referring to. She nodded and left.

---

"What the hell happened here?" Toshiro wondered out loud as he looked in his office where sheets of paper littered the floor. It was like he had a new kind of flooring installed but poorly done.

"Hey Snow bunny's back!!" Tori cheered as she glomped Toshiro which led to a loud thump on the floor.

"Tori…can't…b…breathe…!" He gasped for air as she released her death grip on him. "Thanks" He thanked her for sparing his life from a hug. "What happened here?" He repeated, directing the question to her.

"…I dunno…" Tori shrugged as she looked around the room as if it were her first she had ever come to the office.

"Where's Matsumoto?" He asked her getting a bit annoyed.

"…I 'unno…" Tori shrugged again.

"Crap…I can't believe I trusted her with all this work that I wanted finished today" Toshiro grumbled standing up.

"I'll do it!" Tori offered waving her hand in the air as if she were a student waiting to be picked by the teacher to ask a question. Toshiro looked at Tori and wondered if it was a good idea or rather, was it safe? He glanced at the sheets of paper and back at Tori; he decided to let Tori take over, she couldn't do much damage…could she?

"Holy crap!" Renji shouted out flabbergasted at the number of people in his office. He was about to kick everybody out until he saw a bottle of sake. He soon realized it was his drinking buddies having sake time…WITHOUT him! "You evil, evil people--!!" Renji pointed a finger at them as he walked in. "How could you have sake without me?" He asked them throwing his arms up into the air. "We signed the Sake Pledge of Allegiance!" He told them.

"What pledge?" Hisagi asked taking a swig.

"Ok I made that up, but, that doesn't change the fact that you guys started without me!!" Renji repeated.

"You're a captain, we thought you were busy with things" Rangiku told him.

"Kyouraku is a captain too and he's here!!" Renji retaliated.

"He never does anything though" Rangiku pointed out.

"Yeah but—" Renji started to protest again but was intercepted.

"Oh shut up and have a bottle!" Mika shouted out at him handing him a bottle and slapping his back…hard. He stumbled forward but took a swig and like magic, he was content.

"What a girl, mad one minute then happy the next" Ikkaku muttered as Renji glared at him, apparently overhearing his little rant.

---

"Well, well, well…look who decided to show up!" Rina said with a slight smirk on her face as she reentered her division to see her captain at his desk.

"Where were you?" He asked her not looking up.

"Training the new recruits" She replied throwing the file down on his desk. He looked up and grabbed the file.

"And…?" He asked.

"They're all from Juuichibantai, what the hell do you think?" Rina asked him. "Oh and 5 of them are really sexist, so they're gonna be in 4th Division's facilities every time you make me train with them" She added on.

"I'll keep that in mind, give me your right hand" He said suddenly.

"What?" Rina asked slightly surprised by the sudden request. The fact that he told her to give her hand to him made her think that he wanted her to chop it off and give it to him.

"Let me rephrase, let me see your right hand" He reworded making much clearer to her. She showed him her hand still confused about what he wanted. He took a look at the flame emblem closely as he compared it to a document about something.

"What's that?" Rina asked peering down at the document.

"Nothing" Byakuya replied letting go of her hand and pulled the document out of her sight.

"But what is it?" She repeated.

"None of your business" He told her.

"Let me see it!" She demanded.

"No" He told her defiantly.

"But I wanna know what it was!" She whined.

"Well you're not going to see it!" He snapped at her.

"Aww please?!" She pleaded.

"No!"

"Please?"

"No!"

"Pleasypleasypleasypleasyweasykabweezy?!" She whined.

"What?"

"I have no idea…"

"My answer's still no"

"Aww come on!!"

"No!"

She glared at him and he glared back. "Give me the frickin document; I wanna know what that is!!" She demanded.

"You're not going to get it" He told her.

"Why not?"

"It's none of your business!" He repeated.

"But—"

"Just take the day off!" He told her.

"Huh?"

"Yeah, in fact, I don't want to see you step a foot in this division for the rest of the day. Just take the day off" He told her.

"Uhh…but--!"

"No 'but's now just go" He pointed out the door.

"But—"

"GO--!!!"

She walked out quietly quite stunned at the sudden request. It wasn't like him to tell people to have a day off out of the blue.

"Are you sur—" Rina asked once outside the office.

"OUT!!"

---

"Oi, Matsumoto!" Toshiro yelled out at her little sake party. "MATSUMOTO!!" He roared out finally gaining her attention.

"Huh?" Was all she could say, she looked at her taichou blankly, slightly dizzy from the amount of alcohol she had drank. "Hey, it's everybody's favorite bunny!!" She pointed out swaying side to side slightly. "Hey everybody look, it's MoshiMoro!!" She giggled slightly teetering more and fell to one side.

"MATSUMOTO SOBER UP!!!" Toshiro demanded but he knew it was useless. After her drunkenness, she'd black out and wouldn't wake up for several hours. Well it was either now or never. He stormed over to her and punched her on her head.

"Owwww--!! MoshiMoro is buff!!" She whined clutching onto her head with one hand while taking a large gulp.

"Abarai-taichou!!" Toshiro shouted out frustrated.

"Wha--?" Renji looked up tired and confused. He wasn't as high as Rangiku was; in fact he was barely drunk at all. "Hey Shiro" He waved then dropped into a deep sleep on his desk. Toshiro twitched from frustration, he looked around seeing that the only other captain was Kyouraku…he was like Rangiku's distant cousin or something. Toshiro was about to shout out something when someone walked in.

"Whoa, is it Mardi Gras or something?" Rina asked appalled at the sight.

"Hiya Rina!!!" Mika shouted out and then tripped over Hisagi's blacked out body. "We're having a paaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAARRRRRrrrrrrrrrrTEEEEEEEE!!" She shouted out having the rest of the gang whoop in joy.

"Thank kami you're here, get them to stop" Toshiro told her.

"HEY HOW COME I WASN'T INVITED?!" Rina shouted out joining the party.

"What the--?!"

"HOW COME I WASN'T?!" Tori shouted out cannonball-ing into the party.

"TORI--!" Toshiro shouted out in shock, he was quite positive that all that work couldn't simply be finished in 18 minutes at all. He was protesting about the whole situation but it was futile. He was talking to a room of alcoholics of different levels: Alcoholic Juniors, Half Alcoholics and UBER Alcoholics.

"TAICHOU WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Ise shouted out running into the room. She immediately started to scold her taichou who for some odd reason, came back to reality just as she had entered. "Don't you know that you're needed?!" She asked him.

"What? My dear Nanao-chan needs me?!" He asked surprised and excitedly.

"NOT LIKE THAT!!!!" She slammed her textbook onto his head from his perverted ness. "Ukitake-taichou requests your presence!" She snapped.

"Ohh…Uki-kun needs a drinking buddy? Ok then!" Instantly he got onto his feet and ran out the room with his sake jug yelling out "ITS INTERNATIONAL SAKE DAY!!" As always, Ise had to run after him in order for him to stop yelling out nonsense.

"You two are coming back with me!" Toshiro decided grabbing Tori's arm and Rangiku's hair as he dragged them out of the room.

"Aww come on Snow bunny!!" Tori whined.

"OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!"

Rangiku shouted out in pain, apparently it had snapped her back to reality. Toshiro kept that in mind.

As for the rest of the group…it went something like this. Mika smashed a sake bottle on Renji's head which caused him to wake up, knocking him out of his tiredness, smacked Mika on the head which caused her to sober up. Renji got one of those ridiculously large dictionaries that only a quarter of the words in there were used on a day-to-day basis, and dropped it on Hisagi's stomach. He woke up with an '_oomph_' and threatened to kick Renji's ass. Renji laughed at him and egged Hisagi on—they had a match the following day without knowing as Mika declared it. Yachiru started to draw on Ikkaku's head with a _Sharpie_—she drew Charlie Brown's face on the back of Ikkaku's head and said that he was Charlie Brown. She later then asked him where Snoopy was but Ikkaku thought she asked where Snoop Dog was so all he did was shrug. They were still quite drunk until they saw a pretty butterfly; Yachiru jumped on Ikkaku's back and called him Lassie and ordered him to chase after the butterfly, and he did. Rina accidentally stepped on Iba's hand and he started to cry which was really sad as he was part of 11th Division before and held a pretty high rank. He threatened to kill her but Rina landed an uppercut on him, grabbed him by the arm and threw him down on his back onto the ground—she wasn't drunk at all while Iba was definitely drunk, she obviously had the advantage as Iba couldn't master the Drunken Fist. And as for the other random guys…they jumped out a window claiming that they could fly.

---

"What the hell!?" Toshiro gawked at his division, oh work was getting done alright but they weren't his subordinates or shinigami for the matter!! "Who are these people!?" He asked Tori who beamed innocently.

"Friends of the Short People Society!" She beamed proudly. "I'm President!" She added on. "Hey, if you join then you can be Treasurer!" She told him. She swore she saw a flicker of interest in Toshiro's eyes but he sure acted as if he wasn't.

"Why are the 7 Little Dwarfs from _Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs, _Oompaloompa's from _Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, _Lucky from _Lucky Charms_, and Buddy from _Elf_ here?!" He questioned her, arms flailing about in the air.

"Buddy isn't short" Rangiku pointed out.

"I know, but he's an elf and as long as you have a title of a short person, you're in!" She told her.

"Are you even listening to me?!" Toshiro shouted out. Tori and Rangiku looked at him from his outburst. "I want them out!" He told them.

"Hey all your work's done, what should we do now?" Dopey asked them handing Toshiro a few folders showing that the work was done.

"I want them to stay!" Toshiro quickly changed his mind. Tori and every other person in the division cheered happily. "So...Treasurer huh?" Toshiro asked Tori.

"Okay you're in!"


	7. Chapter 7

_I know I'm taking much longer when it comes to updating, partly because I'm so damned lazy and also because of my actual life. But I get bored once in a while so I type these out. Well since 3 people requested that I update sometime soon--threateningly might I add, you know who you are!-- I decided to. Well anyways here ya go!_

* * *

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

The shrill shriek of the alarm clock rang out through the house. In a split second the beep's had died as the alarm clock had died—literally. It was smashed into thousands of tiny pieces.

"Stupid alarm…" Rina muttered as she buried her head under the pillow to go back to sleep but she couldn't. Something was saying that she was forgetting something. She stared into space until it her like a ton of bricks. "DAMN THE MISSION!!" She jolted awake and sat up and looked at a surviving digital clock across the room. It read 9:11, a bad omen. "Screw it, I don't want to die yet" She muttered as she fell back against her pillow.

**Meanwhile…**

"It's been 3 hours…where is she?" A bunch of shinigami officers grumbled under their breath as they paced back and forth waiting for the one person that was going to be in command. They yawned, paced, and played mindless games to pass the time. Just as they were about to doze off (since they woke up at 6), the door slammed open to the room they were in. They jumped startled at the sudden noise. Finally, 4 hours later, Rina had showed up.

"Alright sit down and shut up, I don't want to die and I'm sure none of you want to so listen up!" She shouted out. "First of all…why are you guys here so damned early?" She asked them with a confused expression.

"We're not early, you're late…by 4 hours" One corrected her.

"No, you're early by 4 hours, I'm on time" She told him.

"Yamamoto-soutaichou said that we leave at dawn" A girl piped up.

"Yeah, at dawn, he never said what time! For all I know it could be dawn right now and we don't even know it" She told her.

The 5 officers stared at Rina like they had seen an idiot for the first time—and she was a lieutenant that was going to lead them in their mission.

"Ok then, um…when we get down there, you guys don't do any stupid things down there." She told them the obvious. "Oh and, I don't care what you think but as long your lives are basically in my hands…" She paused thinking over the words, she felt quite superior then. "You guys better listen to what I say" She told them. The 5 nodded though they were quite nervous that they'd have to follow her commands since she seemed like the last person that anyone could choose as a leader.

---

"You're late" Toshiro muttered not looking up as the office door slid open. "I'm guessing you don't have a legitimate answer as to why you're late again, right, Tori?" He sighed stealing a glance at the door.

"Legitimate?" Tori repeated, it wasn't the first time she'd heard the word but it was the first time that she'd ever hear Toshiro say it.

"It means along the lines of good" He explained to her thinking that she hadn't understood him.

"I know what legitimate means!" She told him rubbing his head like Hinamori usually did. "And yes I do have a good reason" She told him, he looked as if he didn't believe her. "I was walking here; by the way I got up at 8:30 which is a record for me! Anyways, I was walking when I heard something in the trees" She told him, Toshiro was getting suspicious of her story; there weren't many trees in Seireitei directly by a sidewalk or passageway. "It was a kitty, and it was stuck in the tree so I helped it down" She told him, Toshiro raised an eyebrow; there weren't any cats in Seireitei. The only cat to ever walk into Seireitei would be Yoruichi, and since there wasn't any havoc, meaning Soifon hadn't gone crazy, he was positive Yoruichi wasn't here. "…I'm walking again and I pass by 11th Division and for some reason, they want to fight me" She tells him. Her story had gone pretty normal to what the hell? "For the next 30…35 minutes I'm fighting against some dude and you know 11th Division, losing means death so I could've died then and there. But I did something that they never knew was an option—I ran"

"Uh huh…" Toshiro nodded his head not believing anything but still listened to her story.

"But then, they call Ken-chan out so I had to fight for a while, but that guy is **strong**!" She exclaimed emphasizing the strong remark. "It was do-or-die, but Yachiru came along and wanted to bake a cake. I told her if she could get everybody to stop picking on me, they'd have to bake a cake with her. Yachiru stopped everyone from picking on me and they went to bake a cake. They lived happily ever after. THE END" Tori concluded with an innocent smile on her face.

"That has to be the most …" Toshiro started but stopped to think of a word that she'd understand. But that word never came as she walked past him and went to her desk. She grabbed some papers much to her captain's surprise. Thinking that she'd actually work, he dropped his accusation of being late on purpose and went back to his work. He still had to wait for Rangiku to show up. It was really quiet for 5 minutes which could actually become a record for 10th Division. Wondering why Tori hadn't said anything in 5 minutes, he looked over at her work area. He had expected a small pile of work done but he saw something else. "Tori…" He started off unable to tear his gaze away from her desk. "What are you doing?" He asked cautiously.

"I made a duck!" She exclaimed holding up an origami duck. Her desk was full of origami creations; the paper she used was obviously the work that had to be done. She was about to fold another piece of paper when he stopped her.

"You're supposed to write on these" He told her handing her a brush.

"I know that, I write stuff on it first, and then I fold it" She told him with a psh and rolled her eyes. "That way, I won't lose these cuz I'll know which is which!" She explained her tactic. Toshiro stared blankly at her for a moment but snapped back to reality.

"Quit doing that, you don't see Matsumoto doing that now do you?" He asked her.

"Actually, Rangiku told me this" Tori told him. Just as she had said that Rangiku stepped in yawning. She made a beeline for the couch and fell over, asleep.

"Is there anywhere where she **won't** sleep?" Toshiro wondered as he was about to wake up his adjutant.

"I made a snowflake!" Tori exclaimed, instantly Toshiro whirled around knowing that she had cut up the piece of paper. Now how was Toshiro going to hand that in without any interrogation?

---

It was a very quiet and somewhat gloomy day for 9th Division. It had been really boring and filled with gloom mist. Whatever the reason being, no one knew. It was all work, work, work…it felt very familiar to some other division that they didn't really make contact with because they were so boring. Then, as if someone knew what they needed to break the spell, the door slammed open. Hinamori walked in, not calmly like she usually was but more of a panic.

"Hinamori-kun, what's wrong?" Hisagi asked her looking up. She was walking in circles, pacing back and forth, grumbling something. It seemed that she had transformed the gloom mist to piss mist. She was emitting an 'if you talk to me I'll kill you' aura. "H-Hinamori…?" Hisagi asked cautiously, he stepped out from his desk and walked in front of her. The height difference was noticeable but Hisagi felt really small to Hinamori at that moment.

"Agh, I can't stand it!" She grumbled. Renji's attention was caught as he looked up to see his friend rant on about something.

"What is it?" Renji asked confused.

"Taichou and Rukia" She responded. "I love the fact that they're in love but they don't have to make out in front of me!" She told them.

"It can't be that bad" Renji said as he and Hisagi exchanged looks.

"When they kiss, it sounds like they're eating a sandwich" She told them.

"Well they're in love they—"

"Egg salad" Hinamori interrupted Hisagi.

"Well the—"

"With too much mayo" She interrupted Renji stressing her points.

"Just take a day off and hang out with us!" Hisagi told her sitting her down on the couch.

"Yeah, we're way more fun than Berry Man, so just stay here" Renji said supporting Hisagi's advice…for once.

"Alright then…" She took a deep breath and calmed down instantly. "What can I do here?" She asked them timidly.

"Uhh…you're our guest so you don't have to do anything" Renji told her.

"Are you sure?" She asked feeling the need to help her two friends out. It looked like they were struggling with something.

"We're alright, but you can make sure that Mika doesn't ditch all her work on me" Renji told her. "And him too" He said pointing to Hisagi knowing that both Mika and Hisagi had a tendency to ditch their work onto Renji whenever they felt like it.

"Alright then…" Hinamori shrugged as she sat back on the couch, staring up at the ceilings. Less than 2 seconds after, Mika burst in with a widespread grin. When was there a day that she never came in with a smile? It was like she enjoyed work or something—we know that's not true but she gives the impression that she does—she walked in, scratched her head and left as soon as she had came slamming the door behind her.

"What was that about?" Hisagi wondered.

"If only we knew" Renji responded.

---

"Wow this place is…quiet" Mika commented as she walked in the hallways. She had made a random appearance at her HQ's main office but she left immediately. She wasn't sure why she had done that either. She decided to make a trip to her friends, 1 division lower than hers. She raced over there as fast as the speed of sound. In a matter of nanoseconds, she flew into 10th Division having the same amount of enthusiasm as she had when she had entered her own division.

"Go away Kurai" Toshiro said immediately noticing her arrival.

"I can come and go as I please, it's a free world" Mika told him.

"It's true taichou, just like how I don't have to work if I don't want to" Rangiku told her captain supporting Mika.

He grumbled for being proved wrong…twice. "Just don't break anything" He instructed her.

"Aye-aye captain!" Mika saluted Toshiro and marched like a soldier to Tori's desk. "Hey you wanna ditch this place and visit Uki-kun?" Mika asked in a low whisper to Tori.

"Okay, just give me a second…" Tori said stealing a glance at Toshiro's desk. He was busy, busy, busy—a perfect opportunity to esc-leave. "Let's go" She told her as they both used shunpo to leave.

"Dammit" Toshiro muttered noticing the two's reiatsu disappear from the vicinity. "Matsumoto, take over" He ordered her.

"I dun wanna!" She told him defiantly just as a 4 year old would. Instantly, Toshiro emitted this weird, murderous, hostile aura that scared Rangiku. She immediately got to work despite the fact that Tori had amazingly done almost all of it.

---

**"Salutations from 9th—"**

**"—and 10th!"**

**"DIVISIONS"** Mika and Tori shouted out happily as they slammed open the door to 13th Division in a flurry of confetti. Ukitake was scared.

"Mika, Tori…what a…pleasant surprise" He said with a nervous smile on his face. "What brings you here?" He asked them.

"Oh you know…just visiting" Mika told him as they both strolled in looking around at the office that hadn't changed the slightest.

"Just visiting?" Ukitake asked with a raised eyebrow. They can never 'just visit' it was always 'just visiting and breaking, drawing on, redesigning, and taking things'. Tori and Mika nodded in response to his questions. He pointed over to his left; they looked and saw Kiyone and Sentarou behind some sort of booth. "Visitors have to check in there" He explained. Mika and Tori exchanged glances and walked over to the booth, cautiously.

"This place has gotten weirder since we left" Tori told Mika.

"No kidding, they can't live without us!" Mika agreed with Tori.

---

"Karakura is so boring…wonder why hollows always attack here…" Rina muttered as she was standing atop a rooftop gazing down at people crossing the streets. It had been 30 minutes with no activity at all, but it was just 30 minutes, they still had a ton of time to wait for the hollows. Rina found it pretty stupid that Yamamoto had sent down 6 shinigami, surely with the increase of spiritual energy, they'd draw more harm to Karakura. If that was Yamamoto's plan, then it was either smart or stupid.

"There's nothing here fukutaichou-sama" A man reported in as he and the other 4 regrouped on the rooftop Rina was on.

"And you guys wanted to be here at 6" She muttered under her breath. "Alright then, just take it easy for now and relax…not like there's anything else to do…" She told them. It was truly the most boring mission ever; Karakura had to be one of the safest locations ever for humans. With Isshin on one end, and Ryuuken on the other, and Urahara somewhere in the middle, there was a low chance that a hollow would sneak past without 1 of them noticing. Also there were Ichigo's former classmates—Uryuu, Orihime, Sado, Keigo, Tatsuki and Mizuiro. Given that only 3 of the 6 could actually fight them, they actually had a mini army. Then there was also Karin, Kon, the 3 'filler' mod-souls that I cannot name because people hate the filler characters…, Don Kanonji, Jinta, Ururu, and Yoruichi. What was the point of sending another team down there anyways? They had army of all ages: Child, Teen, Adult and Old Fogie.

Suddenly as if their prayers had been answered, an enormous reiatsu crashed down upon them. A rip in the sky formed and out stepped were…low class hollows. The 6 stared up at the hollows and in and instant, they were gone. But obviously those hollows weren't the cause of the huge reiatsu. Something else had sneaked in and was hiding somewhere.

"Hey Nnoitra, you know you suck at hiding your reiatsu. So why don't you come on out?" Rina shouted out randomly causing her teammates to stare at her strangely. Silence, it seems like someone wanted to play hide and seek. "Oh crap…" She muttered soon after. "You brought your freakshow friend with you too…" She muttered annoyed.

"'Freakshow'?" Someone called out slightly irritated.

"Congratulations you blew your cover" Rina smirked as she appeared behind the person with her zanpakutou placed along his neck. "Weren't you supposed to be dead though?" She questioned him.

---

"We're getting a reading!!" 12th Division entered Code Red as their monitors had detected something. Instantly Mayuri was on scene, he pushed people aside as he gazed intently at the screens. His strange smile grew into a smirk; his eyes were lit up with joy as he recognized the reiatsu readings. Not 1 but 2 Vasto Lorde's had appeared in Karakura.

"Nemu" Mayuri called out.

"Yes, Mayuri-sama" She responded.

"Notify Yamamoto-soutaichou, and be prepared" He instructed her.

"Taichou, are you going somewhere?" One officer asked timidly.

"Of course, do you think I'd let an opportunity like this to get away?" He snapped at them. Obviously research was on his mind, he wanted to learn more of the arrancar and the hollows. He had missed his chance the first time, but he wasn't going to give up that easily.

---

"You friggin idiot, you just blew your cover!" Nnoitra yelled out to his teammate who had accompanied him.

"Well thanks for showing up Nnoitra" Rina said feeling that she was invisible all the sudden. "Hey you 5, head back to Soul Society, it's too dangerous for you guys to stay here" She ordered her teammates. They hesitated at first but they went back just as she had told them to.

"That was an idiotic move" Nnoitra commented.

"Shut up, you've got a useless partner as a teammate" She countered. Nnoitra slammed his weapon down inches away from Rina's face.

"Well to me, it seems like you're getting too cocky. I doubt you could beat us all on your own" He sneered.

"I'm not alone you moron, haven't you realized that this whole town is made up of people with spiritual power?" She asked him.

"They're weak, they can't even put up a fight" He told her.

"Sounds like **you're** getting too cocky" She said with a smirk. Nnoitra's eyes narrowed but his grin just got bigger. In a flash they had disappeared and were up in the air exchanging blows.

"Nnoitra, what do you want me to do?" His partner asked him.

"Shut up Szayel Aporro" Nnoitra snapped. "You impregnated some random person and were reborn, you freak me out enough as it is!" He shouted out down below.

"Eww you can do that?" Rina asked disgusted. "That just brought your ranking to a new level!" She shouted down towards him. "I can't believe he's one of the Espada!"

"Tell me about it" Nnoitra agreed as they continued to fight. Szayel Aporro was left down below where he watched idly by with a bunch of his Fraccion. However, his moment of peace and relaxation as someone else came into the battlefield.

---

"Tori, come on we gotta go!" Toshiro yelled out as he entered 13th Division hastily. He looked around to see no Tori or Mika anywhere. "Dammit…"

"Tori and Mika left awhile ago." Ukitake told him. "Oh and by the way…" Ukitake walked over to him and pulled out sweets, candies and boxes of cookies and stuff and dumped them all into Toshiro's hands.

"U-Ukitake, what the hell are you doing? We're in a state of emergency right now!" He protested. Ukitake suddenly dropped his Santa Claus attitude and became all serious.

"I know that, but I don't want those two to know, it gets real scary in here" Ukitake told him in a low hush pointing at Kiyone and Sentarou. "We have an emergency meeting don't we?" He asked Toshiro—he nodded in response and the two captains left quietly.

---

Every single captain showed up at the emergency meeting…that is except for Kurotsuchi Mayuri, he had gone off to Karakura on his own. Yamamoto knew of this and dismissed his absence. Unlike all the other crazy meetings they had in the past involving indoor fights…this one was much more solemn and serious. Once all captains were in their place and they had stopped talking, Yamamoto started things off.

"You were all called here today to notify all of you of the intrusion the Espada, that former 5th Division captain, Aizen Sosuke had left behind, are currently active. Right now we have reports that 2 have entered Karakura Town"

Once Yamamoto finished his little blurb, he got many reactions as expected. Ichigo stepped out of line; he was clearly shocked and obviously wanted to head down to Karakura. Yamamoto had already expected this but continued on with the meeting.

"Kurotsuchi-taichou and Kurotsuchi-fukutaichou have already left Seireitei to detain the Espada. As you know we do have many accomplices down in Karakura, but they have yet to contact us about this. Kurosaki-taichou, I understand your concern of you family and friends down in Karakura, but I assure that everything is being taken care of. With that being said, I would like all of your divisions to be on guard for any intrusions into Soul Society. They may be trying to use their intrusion into Karakura as a diversion in order to attack us." All captains nodded understanding the situation they were in.

---

"Man I was hoping that we'd be able to live in peace for a lot longer…" Urahara sighed as he blocked another cero blast with Benihime. "Yoruichi" He called out.

"I'm on it!" She responded and disappeared in a flash.

"You sure are a weird guy" Urahara commented on Szayel Aporro. "You don't seem like a fighter to me at all…more like a—"

"—researcher; just like you" Szayelaporro finished Urahara's line. Urahara shifted his hat slightly downwards to keep it in place as he readied himself for another swing at the Espada in front of him.

---

"Getting tired?" Nnoitra asked his smirk getting bigger. He seemed to be enjoying the effort Rina was putting into her fights, sure she had gotten stronger, but nowhere near an Espada's power. She stood in front of him, zanpakutou drawn in front of her. Her breathing was getting heavier but she could manage.

"Why, worried I might kill you?" She mocked him.

"Don't get too full of yourself" Nnoitra said as he lifted his weapon and slashed horizontally causing Rina to jump back to avoid the blade. Just as he was about to take another swing, someone landed on the blade. "Who are you?" He questioned the person.

"Shihouin Yoruichi" She replied as she used Shunkou on Nnoitra. It knocked him backwards a few feet but he managed to maintain his hold on his weapon.

"What are you doing here?" Rina asked Yoruichi as she walked up to her.

"I could ask the same for you" She responded.

---

"Well this is an interesting sight" Szayel Aporro commented as someone else stepped into his fight.

"Long time no see huh?" Urahara joked as he recognized who had joined his little fight.

"And you are…?" Szayel Aporro questioned the newcomer.

"Juunibantai-taichou, Kurotsuchi Mayuri" He responded.


	8. Chapter 8

"Well, this is a surprise. You never come visit me, what brings you here…Uryuu?" Ryuuken questioned as he saw his son at the doorway of his office. Uryuu didn't say a word but just stepped in.

"Just letting you know that I'm going out" Uryuu responded. Ryuuken gave his son a long gaze wondering why he would stop by just to tell him that. He had gone off before to Hueco Mundo without telling him; although he had left a little note for him.

"Then go" Ryuuken said. Uryuu seemed to hesitate for a while but left without a word.

"So this is good parenting huh?" Isshin asked as he came out from his little hiding place—he was in his shinigami form. "All I saw were glares and some weird small talk" He commented as Ryuuken stood up and faced the window and looked out sensing the high reiatsu.

"I don't see you doing any better, Kurosaki" Ryuuken told him.

"…What's with you calling me by my last name?" Isshin asked him quite peeved that Ryuuken had suddenly become all cold. "I'm heading out too, just to let you know" He informed him as he started for the door.

"Why, tell me? I'm not your father" Ryuuken told him.

"I'm not an idiot" Isshin stated the obvious…though when in gigai it was hard to tell.

"Yeah right" Ryuuken smirked. That struck a nerve in Isshin.

"And just for that, I ain't protecting your hospital" He told Ryuuken giving him a glare to the back of his head.

---

_Damn this is annoying…_ Nnoitra thought to himself as he sensed more and more people closing in on the area. Obviously there were people here that harnessed a tremendous amount of spiritual energy. He sensed 2 had just appeared at where Szayelaporro was, and now there was another person coming in. Currently he was fighting against Yoruichi when he really wanted to fight Rina since she was weaker than Yoruichi. He figured that if he got rid of one, then he could focus more on the second one. So far, his plan wasn't working—Yoruichi was a master at shunpo and she kept getting in his way.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" He yelled out, as his mouth opened a red orb formed in front of it right at the tip of the tongue.

"Damn!" Yoruichi had to make sure the cero didn't go haywire and affect the buildings and the humans. Just as Nnoitra fired, a black wall of some sort formed blocking the Cero blast slightly, it slowed the cero down but the cero was stronger than the barrier. "What's this?" Yoruichi wondered.

"Don't just stand there!" Rina told Yoruichi. Apparently she had conjured up the little barrier of black flames. Yoruichi got out of the way just as the fire was about to dissipate. Luckily, the cero had died down a bit so the pavement had a crater, but it was smaller than what it would be if it hadn't lost its power. Nnoitra cursed under his breath as he charged for both females at top speed. They both dodged luckily. Now panting heavily, they had to think of something to restrain this guy. He was just like Zaraki, someone who enjoyed fighting. Nnoitra did take a beating but it seemed it didn't affect him at all.

"Rina, restrain him with a bakudou, I can attack directly then" Yoruichi told her.

"Got it" She nodded and had to wait for a moment where Nnoitra would slip up—that would be her chance to restrain him.

---

Things weren't looking so good for the 12th division captains. Szayelaporro was enjoying the fight so much that he decided to toy with them. He had his little voodoo dolls out, he would crush an organ or sever a muscle whenever the 2 would seem like they were ok.

"Giving up?" He sneered, just enjoying their pain. He crushed Mayuri's stomach causing him to cough up blood. He snapped Urahara's tendon causing him to be momentarily paralyzed.

"Not a chance" Mayuri said smirking, as he stood up as if he were just fine. "Your childish tactics won't work on me" Mayuri went on causing Szayelaporro to wonder why he wasn't in pain. He continued to crush his organs frantically as Mayuri approached him. "Must I repeat myself? Your childish actions won't affect me" Mayuri repeated himself as he stopped in his tracks. "I've observed what you can do, so I prepared a dummy for each of my organs and muscles" Mayuri explained. At this time, Szayelaporro freaked out as he smashed the Mayuri doll onto the ground, not having it affect Mayuri. Suddenly he got an idea and started cackling like a maniac.

"This may not affect you, but what about your partner?" He asked him with a smirk, pointing at Urahara. Mayuri glanced at Urahara's body and just smirked. "What are you; don't you care for your partner?" Szayelaporro asked confused.

"Do you honestly think that Urahara Kisuke, former captain of the 12th division would fall prey to your simple-minded tricks as well?" Mayuri asked; Szayelaporro's eyes widened in fear.

"Then you mean…" He started but was intercepted.

"That's right, I've been playing along to all your little tricks" Urahara said standing up clutching his hat on his head. "Except I didn't replace my organs and muscles like this freak here" He said pointing to Mayuri.

"How did you do it?" Szayelaporro asked him now very pissed.

Urahara gave him a witty smile. "I'm. Not. Telling" Urahara told him. "It's a secret, if I tell you, then it won't be a secret anymore!" He told Szayelaporro.

"Fine then, it won't matter because you'll just die" Szayelaporro sneered grasping his zanpakutou in his hands. He did a pretty strange movement with his zanpakutou, as if he were going to eat it, he slid it down his mouth thus releasing his zanpakutou—Fornicarus. He then transformed into a very ugly butterfly which freaked everyone else and they ran away; The End.

Actually, it went more like this. Szayelaporro did turn into a strange looking butterfly-nymph-plant-tentacle creature, but no one ran away. Everyone was disgusted at the sight. Talk about nightmare, this guy could perform voodoo, he could become a butterfly and he could impregnate people thanks to his zanpakutou. What couldn't this guy do?

"Aw crap…" Urahara muttered.

"Bankai: Konjiki Ashisogi Jizou" Mayuri said in a relaxed tone as he unleashed his bankai. If there could be a zanpakutou pageant between Fornicarus and Ashisogi Jizou, Ashisogi Jizou would win by a landslide (at least to me it would). Instantly poisonous gas 'polluted' the air, but Mayuri didn't seem to mind at all.

"Hey, Kurotsuchi, think you can make your zanpakutou NOT have poisonous breath?" Urahara asked shielding his nose and mouth. Mayuri ignored him and proceeded to attack Szayelaporro. Szayelaporro wasn't expecting a huge baby with poisonous breath to come charging at him. Also, this baby was huge! To make a long story short, Konjiki Ashisogi Jizou ate Szayelaporro.

---

"…Bakudou no Rokujuuichi, Rokujou Kourou" Nnoitra was bound tight by 6 canes formed of kidou. He was stuck and this was Yoruichi's chance to attack him head on. She jumped up and spiral-kicked him, sending his head to jerk back, hard. She then went on to fighting him with her fists and feet, knocking the daylights out of Nnoitra. Of course Nnoitra could still fire cero blasts from his mouth so she had to be careful.

"Think you could lend me a hand here?" Yoruichi asked to her partner behind her.

"I wish I could!" Rina snapped hastily. Things weren't going on so well, good thing: Nnoitra was restrained; bad thing: the flame emblem on her right hand started to 'glow' again. Like last time it caused her pain and she wasn't able to control her mind so well—she started to worry about the restraint on Nnoitra and what Yoruichi would have to do afterwards. Then a voice entered her mind…except it wasn't that annoying voice telling her what not to do.

_Release it._

"What the…?" Rina heard that voice and it was…her pet wolf…either she was sick or going cuckoo since her wolf wasn't there with her. But she remembered the little lecture she had before she left for the day. A lecture from a pet…very strange thing to go through…

_**.:Flashback:.**_

"Rina, do you understand what controlling your emotions mean?" Hiroshi asked her as she was about to leave for the day.

"Yup, it means being able to stay calm and not show them" She told him.

"That's only half of it. Being able to control your emotions does mean being able to hide it but at the same time, being able to release it in a healthy way" He told her.

"…Did you get this from a women's magazine or something?" Rina asked him with a raised eyebrow. Hiroshi ignored her and continued on with his blurb.

"Whenever that symbol on your hand glows like it did the other night, it means that you're not doing something right and it can cause damage to you. Holding in emotions especially anger, can cause some problems with you." He lectured her.

"So you're saying this thing" She pointed at the flame symbol. "Is some sort of gauge that tells me if I'm okay or not?"

"Exactly"

_**.:Flashback:.**_

_All I have to do is release my anger…wow what good timing, I can release it on Nnoitra!_ Rina gripped her zanpakutou with both her hands tight as she used shunpo to get behind Nnoitra. She swung at Nnoitra, slashing his back leaving a nice deep gash on his back. He screeched from the sudden pain and tried to shoot her down with Cero, but Yoruichi stepped in and slammed his body hard into the ground.

"We might want to keep this guy alive, Mayuri's here and he'd probably want to perform tests on them" Yoruichi said.

"No kidding."

---

"That's sick man" Urahara commented on Mayuri's zanpakutou eating away on Szayelaporro goodness. Full of arsenic and Vitamin Q, that's just what his zanpakutou needs…

"Mayuri-sama…" Nemu spoke up shyly as she stepped out from the sidelines where she had been observing. "We have an urgent message from Soul Society" She told him as she walked towards them.

"Ignore it, I'll get back to it later" He told her.

"But—"

"I said ignore it" He snapped at her.

"Yes sir"

"Ok I'm here, what'd I miss?" Isshin asked as he came upon the scene.

"Everything" Urahara replied. "Hey you brought the Power Rangers with you!" Urahara exclaimed seeing Orihime, Chad, Uryuu, Jinta and Ururu walk up behind Isshin.

"What's that thing?" Jinta asked pointing at Ashisogi Jizou.

"It's a baby eating his vegetables, what does it look like to you?" Urahara asked him as Ashisogi Jizou gave out a loud burp.

"Ok then smart guy, what's that?" Jinta asked pointing at Mayuri.

"Ronald McDonald's long lost cousin" Urahara responded earning a glare from Mayuri and those are much scarier than a glare from any other person.

"We should head over to where Yoruichi-san is, dunno how they're faring right now" Urahara decided sheathing Benihime.

"No need, we're right here" Yoruichi said as she and Rina returned with an unconscious Nnoitra still bound by bakudou. Mayuri saw the bound Espada and became excited. He walked over to both females and asked for the Espada. They handed him over, not only because they had no use for the Espada, they wanted Mayuri to stay away from them, at least for the moment.

"We should leave now, there's no further use for us to stay here" Mayuri decided. "Nemu" He called for her as he prepared to open a gate to Soul Society. But, Nemu didn't respond. "Nemu" He snapped and looked to where she was. She was collapsed on the ground breathing heavily.

"What's wrong with Nemu?" Rina asked as everyone else turned their gaze towards the 12th division lieutenant.

Her breaths became labored and much harder; she started to whimper a bit and then it became loud screams. Her stomach began to swell up quite fast.

"It sounds like she's going into labor…except...she wasn't pregnant 5 minutes ago!" Isshin said.

"Umm…I think I might know what's going on" Rina said shyly raising her hand. Everyone looked at her for an answer. "Well, before Nnoitra attacked me, he and Szayelaporro had this weird argument and he mentioned that Szayelaporro can impregnate people…" She told them, everyone's eyes widened as they looked back at Nemu who was in deep, excruciating pain. In just a few seconds, her head arched and her body was stripped of its nutrients as it basically shriveled up. Out from her mouth was none other than Szayelaporro himself—reborn.

"You didn't think you could get rid of me that easily now could you?" He sneered at the group before him.


	9. Chapter 9

_Wheee--!! I'm bringing back some old characters...well not old like in old fart old as in, you haven't heard in these guys for a while. Man I hope nobody hates these people -.-

* * *

_"Taichou, this is boring" Ikkaku yawned boredly as he lay down on the floor lazily gazing up at the sky above. 

"Too bad, we have to be on guard" Zaraki told him as he too was bored and tired. "The Espada might come and attack us, that'll be our chance" He explained.

"But why wait here when there are 2 down there?" Ikkaku asked bringing up a good point.

"I dunno, ask the old man of the mountain!" Zaraki told him as he set his head down on his desk.

11th division was really bored, they had nothing to do. Normally they'd be training but for the time being, they had to conserve their energy for the upcoming fight…which was never going to come by the looks of it.

"WE'RE SCREWED, WE'RE SCREWED, WE'RE SCREWED-!!!" Some random shinigami shouted out zipping past 11th division. It was some 12th division member that none of the 11th division members cared about since they weren't that strong and was what Zaraki called them—geeks.

"Wait a minute, what if an Espada showed up here?" Ikkaku thought contemplating what the shinigami had said when he ran past.

"Give it a rest, if there was another Espada here, then we'd be kicking his ass by now" Zaraki told him. "Wake me up when they get here" He told them as he took a nap.

---

"Why are we doing nothing?" Tori questioned Toshiro. "You always say we have to do something and now you say do nothing!" Tori exclaimed as she threw her hands up into the air from confusion.

"They're orders from Yamamoto-soutaichou, we have to be on guard and ready in case an Espada shows up…or an arrancar or hollow for the matter" He explained to her.

"Can I go down to Earth and get Rina back up here?" She asked slumping down on the couch.

"She can take care of herself, besides they have strong people down there" He pointed out.

"Can I go down there to get a taco?" She asked him.

"…Make your own taco!" Toshiro told her pointing at the _Old El Paso Taco Kits_ that conquered a shelf in the office for some reason.

"Yeah but then I have a tough time deciding if I want the soft shells or the hard ones that can stand up on their own!" She whined. "And it takes too long for me to make one, I'd rather buy one in 2 seconds then make one in 1 minute" She whined.

"You are unbelievable" Toshiro muttered. "Oi Matsumoto, where the hell are you, you need to be here!" Toshiro yelled out. Rangiku walked in the room, apparently she had been outside the room in some other place. "I was making a taco taichou and—" She never got to finish as Tori tackled her for the taco screaming TACO!

---

"You know, I think this is the actual war we're supposed to have with the arrancar" Mika piped up from the silence in her division.

"Really, how so?" Hisagi asked her.

"The last battle was "The War of 2 ½ hours" that's a sad war for us to win" Mika pointed out.

"Yeah, now this is The War of WHERE THE HELL ARE THEY!?" Renji yelled out boredly.

"Maybe they're not coming and they're all in Karakura Town…" Mika said quietly. It got very quiet in her division all the sudden. "Or…" Mika started up again. "Maybe they're at a taco stand before they come kill us all!" Mika told them, not really helping the solemn situation they were in.

"Crap I'm hungry now…damn you Mika" Hisagi groaned.

---

"Well…this is just…dandy!" Rina shouted out staring at the thing Szayelaporro who seemed to be enjoying tormenting people.

"What just happened…again?" Yoruichi asked her needing Rina to explain the story again to her. She re-explained the story to them as they got on guard to fight Szayelaporro. Mayuri glanced at his daughter's limp body then back at Szayelaporro.

"Such an intriguing ability" He muttered. He dropped Nnoitra down on the ground and approached Szayelaporro ready to fight him again. However, he didn't stop when he was in front of Szayelaporro; he walked past him and stared into Nemu's glazed over eyes.

"Ma…Mayu…ri…sama…" She gasped out slowly.

"Saddened by your adjutant's desiccated form?" Szayelaporro asked Mayuri. "You're weaker than I thought"

"What an amazing ability" Mayuri smirked as he turned back towards Szayelaporro. "But I'm afraid that you've wasted your time coming back to this world" Mayuri continued causing Szayelaporro to wonder what was going on. "Looks like you're going to die here while your poor friend over there gets to live… for…… a……… whi……………le……" Mayuri told him.

_What the…his words just now…they're so…slow!_ Szayelaporro's mind seemed to fog up as everything to him happened in super slow-motion. The words he was hearing became slurred and warped to him and movements that he perceived seem to be stopped. _What's going on? What did he do?_

"Let me explain" Mayuri offered. "Nemu's body is prepared with several drugs in case she is ever eaten or invaded like you have done." He pulled out a vial of some sort from his haori and waved it in front of Szayelaporro's face. "This is…well, it could be called a superhuman serum. Like its name, it can give the host superhuman abilities for the time being. To you, my movements should seem sluggish due to the fact your brain has adapted to the drugs effects. Usually I'd dilute this to halt its amazing effects but, I used a special undiluted dose on you. In other words, 1 second…should feel like **100 years** to you" He explained to him.

"This guy's a freak!" Isshin commented silently on Mayuri's superhuman serum.

"Now you understand why I stay away from him" Rina commented.

"They chose **this** guy to replace **me**?" Urahara wondered out loud.

While Mayuri was going on about his experiment, someone woke up and was not in a good mood.

---

Back in Seireitei... nothing happened… still. However, news of the activity down below in Karakura Town got to Soul Society. Yamamoto wasn't sure whether or not it was a good idea to send anymore people down there. Nemu's condition was known of and also of the Espada that had caused it. But they were able to breathe a little easier once they heard that the Espada that caused Nemu's downfall was taken care of and was eliminated. It was the other one that caused worry now. Aizen, Ichimaru, and Tousen were locked up in holding cells with their spiritual power sealed away. They were now subjects of interrogation since they seemed most suspicious of whatever was going on in Hueco Mundo.

A knock on the door caught Yamamoto's attention; he looked up and allowed whoever it was in. It was Ichigo and he wasn't in such a great mood. Yamamoto sighed heavily knowing already what Ichigo had come for. Ichigo opened his mouth to say something but Yamamoto beat him to the words.

"There's no need to say what you are here for, I already know" Yamamoto told him. "My answer is still no, there are enough people down there and they can deal with the Espada that is still alive."

"Actually…that's only part of what I came down here for…" Ichigo said once he had the chance to. "I'm not the only one that wants to go down to Karakura… and also, I don't think the other Espada or arrancar or anybody for the matter is going to attack us…" Ichigo told him.

Yamamoto automatically knew who the other people who wanted to head down to Karakura were but pushed the thought away once he heard Ichigo's assumption. "Why is that?"

"Well, they would've already and we have their 3 leaders in our cells and they can't do anything…" He said trailing off.

"Kurosaki-taichou, don't forget that the Espada are very strong and smart. For all we know, they could be trying to throw us off by not appearing for a while. They may come or they may not, we do not know but we have to be on guard at all times now."

"But what if, they are really planning on attacking solely Karakura Town? That was their objective when Aizen was in command; they wanted to have the souls of all the people in my hometown in order to replicate the key that leads to where the King is" Ichigo pointed out.

"That may be the case but however; there are people that you obviously know of down there that can maintain control. There hasn't been a major hollow problem down there because they are able to keep them away. There are 2 ex-captains and the ex-commander of the Onmitsukidou as well as the 2 remaining Quincy's, your friends and those other people called vizards." Yamamoto listed.

"But—"

"That is my final answer; I won't speak of this again. Is that clear?" He inquired towards Ichigo who seemed shocked and pissed off as well. But rules are rules, and one coming orally from Yamamoto-soutaichou was one that must be followed.

"U-understood" He muttered clenching his fists tight regrettably.

He exited silently and walked down the corridors of 1st division. Once he was out of the vicinity of 1st division and was in an empty courtyard, he met up with someone.

"Well?" The person, who turned out to be Byakuya asked him. Ichigo hesitated for a moment but told him.

"He said that we can go, now let's go!" Ichigo replied rushing off towards where the gates were. Byakuya raised an eyebrow at Ichigo's sudden rushed response but brushed it off as he assumed it was because he wanted to go to see his family and friends. With that, both captains of 5th and 6th division left Soul Society.

---

"Oi, Kurotsuchi, its only right that you remain with your daughter while she's in the healing process" Ishida snapped out at the 12th division captain as Orihime was tending to Nemu's desiccated form. "Are you even listening to me?" Ishida asked now irritated. Mayuri heard Ishida loud and clear but at the moment he was real pissed that the Espada that was thought to be detained, escaped from his grasp and was now in a sudden battle somewhere far from where they were.

"…Ma…Mayuri…sama" A hoarse voice gasped slowly. It caught Mayuri's attention as he looked over his shoulder at Nemu.

"What?" He asked harshly but it was actually softer sounding than what he was usually known for.

"I'm sorry, please… go after the enemy…you don't have to wait for me" She told him.

"You have such a great daughter…" Urahara sighed to himself; he then glanced at Mayuri who seemed to not care. "How'd he find out what feelings were?" Urahara wondered comparing the differences between Mayuri and Nemu. As he was contemplating this, Mayuri walked over to his daughter's side and kneeled down so that he was beside her. Orihime and Ishida tensed up slightly being so close to the captain that nearly killed them so many years ago.

"Stop" He ordered the two.

"What?" Orihime and Ishida gasped shocked at Mayuri's decision.

"I said stop" He hissed at them shooting them a cold glare at them. They stopped hesitantly and wondered what he'd do.

"What're you going to do?" Urahara asked walking over to the scene not thinking it seemed 'safe' anymore.

"Hmph, you didn't really think that Nemu could be easily defeated by the likes of that incompetent fool over there now did you?" Mayuri asked casting a glance at what was Szayelaporro.

---

"Dammit, what the hell do you want with me!?" Rina yelled out as she blocked desperately against Nnoitra's freakishly large weapon. Nnoitra just grinned at the fight he was getting, the more she blocked the more he wanted to slice her up.

"I've noticed for some time now" Nnoitra started out confusing Rina. "Your reiatsu is a bit different than everyone else's" He told her.

"Huh?"

"Forget it; it won't matter anyways since you're just going to die!" He screeched and raised his weapon well above his head to strike at her.

"Not if I can help it" She muttered under her breath. Just as she said that Hanabi emitted a smoky mist that filled the air. In a matter of seconds everything was smoke; it was hardly visible at all.

"What the hell did that idiot do?" Nnoitra grumbled as he looked around desperately. Not only was his vision blocked but the temperature started to rise…rapidly! And it was strange too since it was just the beginning of winter. "What's going on?" He wondered as he started to feel dizzy and lightheaded from the sudden rise in temperature. It was like a tropical forest now except with buildings instead of trees. Suddenly he felt a searing, burning pain in his shoulder, a warm liquid trickled down his arm. He realized that he had just been attacked from behind while he was out of it. Obviously the smoke and temperature was getting to him; he gripped tightly onto his weapon swung it high above his head and swung down randomly at a spot. He hit pavement, he'd hit nothing.

"What're you trying to kill, rocks?" Someone spoke from behind him. He knew it and whipped around only to meet a punch in the face. He stumbled backwards but regained his posture; however his clumsiness cost him as he was attacked again from the side and then the back.

"Shit!" He cursed enraged. "How can she stand this heat?" He hissed having the heat get to him, he was sure he'd pass out if he didn't find a way to stop the technique.

"I'm just used to it" Rina replied kicking Nnoitra in the back and had Hanabi follow her as Hanabi stabbed Nnoitra in the back. Nnoitra coughed up some blood as he stumbled forward; at this moment he was drained of power. "…I thought you were the self-proclaimed strongest Espada" She remarked as she gave one more punch to Nnoitra's head. "Guess you're not all that, huh" She said as she saw him stumble backwards and fall against the ground. She knew she hadn't killed him; there was no way that with her power alone that she could kill an Espada anyways. At least she had separated Nnoitra from his weapon and also, he was drained of power and he was in no condition to fight anymore. Seeing as he could no longer be a threat, she dissipated the smoke and heat technique she had used to her advantage. Immediately after that she cast Nnoitra under Bakudou once again. Mayuri would be happy, no doubt about it.

"I finally caught up, what'd I miss?" Isshin asked shunpoing to Rina's side. He glanced at the bound, critically injured Espada and immediately his heart sank. "Damn I missed the fun part" He pouted.

"…You went to see your kids, don't feel guilty" Rina tried to comfort Isshin, but Isshin was a man of many faces.

An astounding reiatsu crashed down on them, except it was a familiar comforting one. The 2 shinigami looked behind them to see the gates that connected Soul Society to Earth. It opened up revealing Ichigo and Byakuya. They looked like they were on a business meeting or had just attended a funeral because their facial expressions were one of solemn.

"Uh…hey guys…" Rina started out surprised that two more captains would come down to Karakura, although practically everything was well taken care of.

"ALRIGHT FAMILY REUNION" Isshin shouted out happily to the world once he saw his son.

"…Now I regret returning…" Ichigo muttered trying to pretend not to know Isshin. "Oh yeah…the Espada…what happened to them?" Ichigo asked them.

"Well, Clown-taichou killed the scary butterfly" Rina told them in her own terms. "And the Grudge Girl is in a straitjacket" She said pointing at Nnoitra's nearly unconscious form.

"…You did that?" Byakuya asked her.

"Yeah…he was asking for it anyways…"

Just as Rina said that, Nnoitra groaned in protest and tried to break free. Instantly the 2 captains and ex-captain got on guard. But they didn't need to as Mayuri appeared, excited that he hadn't lost his lab rat after all.

"Kurotsuchi, what are you doing here?" Ichigo asked somewhat surprised. Mayuri didn't answer but instead knocked Nnoitra out and grabbed him so that he was on his feet.

"I'll be on my way back to Soul Society now" He told the 4 shinigami. "Nemu" He called out, Nemu walked out in perfect health which surprised Rina and Isshin. With that both 12th division members returned to Soul Society with the wounded Espada. A few seconds later, Urahara appeared looking around for Kurotsuchi.

"Where'd the freaky guy go?" He asked them.

"He left a while ago" Isshin told him.

"Thank god!" Urahara sighed in relief. He then looked up at the sky watching hollows of all kinds retreat back into the rip in the sky. "Looks like they're gonna come back sometime" He sighed now disappointed. "Oh by the way, Rina how're you feeling?" He asked her.

"…never felt better…" She stated sarcastically. She sheathed her now brittle zanpakutou that had nearly split into thousands of shards from making impact with Nnoitra's extra-hard skin. Her arm and leg that she'd used to kick and punch Nnoitra were feeling crapped up as well. The bones had surely shattered in some part. "Oh and by the way," She started turning her attention to Ichigo and Byakuya. "Why did it take 24 minutes for Soul Society to approve my wish of releasing the seal?" She asked them recalling the critical moment when she'd needed to release the seal, except it took an extra long time just to get it approved.

"I dunno…maybe because those idiots couldn't function properly without Kurotsuchi Sr. and Jr." Ichigo shrugged.

"Hey I raised those idiots!" Urahara snapped out at Ichigo…not really making a comeback.

"Hey I just noticed this but uh," Isshin started out catching everyone's attention. "You don't look that injured Rina" He pointed out.

It was true she barely had any visible wounds on her. It was strange since she fought with the 5th Espada, and she was remarkably weaker than him. How'd she end up winning and having barely any wounds, was definitely strange. Now everyone looked at her and wondered how she had done so.

"Oh about that…I had a little help…" She said causing confusion amongst the group.

"Help…?" Ichigo wondered out loud.

---

Elsewhere, in an old abandoned shack…or so it had seemed. 8 people inside were carrying on with their normal daily routines…well except for 2. A girl and a boy, they were having an argument and the girl was winning by a landslide.

"SHINJI YOU DICKHEAD, WHY THE HELL DID YOU GO AND HELP!?" The girl shouted out furiously, grabbing her sandal and slapped it across the boy—Shinji's face. He flew back and slammed into the wall without a fight.

"Hiyorin, don't kill Shinji!" A green-haired girl named Mashiro called out to Hiyori, who was beating the crap out of Shinji.

"Don't worry Mashiro, there's no way Hiyori would kill Shinji" A man with a muscular build and white-ish hair told her. "Cuz then she'd have no one to pick on…"

"Ugh…" Shinji groaned rubbing his head as he stepped out of the rubble. "What choice did I have, they were making so much noise" He told her.

"Who cares?" Hiyori asked ready to smack Shinji upside the head again. "They are shinigami, we **WERE** shinigami once before, but we had to leave because of our inner hollows" She told him. "We don't ally ourselves with them!" She snapped at him.

"But we helped Berry-tan" Mashiro pointed out.

"He was a shinigami representative, a phony, he didn't count" Hiyori countered.

"Speaking of Ichigo, he's here isn't he?" The large one of them spoke up.

"…You're right Hacchi…looks like he's gotten stronger" Shinji said smirking slightly.

---

"Well I guess we'll he—"

"—WHY DON'T ALL OF YOU COME OVER FOR A REUNION OF FRIENDS?" Isshin asked them—Ichigo, Byakuya, Rina and Urahara—and hugged them tight in a deranged group hug.

"Uh…we really should get going back though" Rina told him trying to wrench out of his grasp.

"No you don't, they can wait" Isshin told them.

"Actually, we really do dad" Ichigo told him.

"We do…?" Rina and Byakuya asked Ichigo surprised. They'd expected that he'd want to stay a bit longer with his family and friends after worrying about them for so long.

"Yeah…uh…the guys up there uh…" He started shakily. "They don't know that we—as in you and me Byakuya—came down here" He admitted sheepishly.

"What?" Urahara asked confused.

"You said that Yamamoto-soutaichou permitted us to leave" Byakuya said.

"Yeah…that was a lie" He admitted taking small steps back.

"That's not good Ichigo, you two could be branded as traitors you know" Someone told them. Everyone turned to the direction of the voice, everyone except for Ichigo wasn't surprised by the person's appearance. "Long time no see, Ichigo"


	10. Chapter 10

_This chapter is more 'drama' than the other random stuff that I write which I myself don't understand half the time...anyways I'll do my best to update more frequently...only because I don't want to learn how to sleep with my eyes open..._

_Thanks to: **Tori-62, Tsanayi-sama, and Yorukin for support and reviewing and faving and ...alerting too...I think...

* * *

**_

"K-Kurotsuchi, what are you doing?!" Ukitake asked bewildered at the 'souvenir' Mayuri had brought back to Seireitei from Earth. Mayuri ignored the captain and walked right past him with Nnoitra and Nemu close behind. "Ah…that's right…Yamamoto-soutaichou would like to see you in his office" Ukitake hollered after Mayuri. Mayuri seemed to have ignored Ukitake once again but he did get the message. He'd show up after Nnoitra was taken care of.

"Nemu, get a cell ready for this one" Mayuri told Nemu; she nodded and went off quickly preparing the holding cell for the weakened Espada.

"What do you want with me?" Nnoitra hissed angrily at Mayuri. Mayuri glanced at Nnoitra from the corner of his eyes.

"It should be pretty obvious to you" Mayuri told him. "Since your pitiful friend wasn't capable of becoming a test subject for me, you were the next choice" He told him. Nnoitra's eyes narrowed at him, shooting glares at him. "Let me make this clear to you," Mayuri stopped walking and turned to face the Espada. "While you are in my division, your life is depicted by me" He told him. "Luckily for you, you will be kept alive just for the sake of Soul Society. However, if you try anything, you will be executed immediately. You will cooperate with me and do as I say. There is no point in pleading guilty or asking help from your former leaders as they too are in the situation you are in—of course they won't become test subjects—in short, try something, and you'll die" Mayuri told him threateningly.

"Wasn't planning to…" Nnoitra said still keeping his glare on Mayuri.

"Good. Just to let you know, there are much stronger people here than that lieutenant that caused your pitiful state" He told him. "You are under heavy surveillance, even as we speak"

"Psh…like that lieutenant could've survived if that idiot hadn't shown up…" Nnoitra grumbled recalling the strange person that harnessed a strange power that was very much like Ichigo's.

---

"I-it's you!" Ichigo gasped at the nostalgic face approaching him. The person smirked slightly at his reaction.

"What's with that stupid face?" He asked him.

"OI DICKHEAD WHO SAID YOU COULD LEAVE!?" Someone shrieked out, seconds later the person approaching Ichigo was slammed down into the pavement by a girl.

"Are you sure we can leave Ichigo with those people?" Isshin asked Urahara warily after witnessing the girl smack the guy around repeatedly.

"He'll be fine; he's your son--!" Urahara praised Ichigo.

"I dunno…that girl scares me too" Isshin said witnessing the girl throwing the guy around like he was a rag doll and Ichigo would be next.

"Their reiatsu's are significantly different" Byakuya commented sensing their reiatsu's.

"Well that's because they're very much like Ichigo. A shinigami with hollow powers—Vizards" Urahara told him.

--

"No connection…?" Rina questioned her phone that couldn't connect to Soul Society for some reason. If connecting to Soul Society was a problem so was the problem she was going through with a broken arm and leg and also that, 2 captains had entered Karakura without consent. "I wonder…" She dialed a different number and this time it connected through.

"_SHORT PEOPLE SOCIETY, HOW MAY I HELP YOU!?_" A really high-pitched hyper-active voice shouted through the phone on the other end.

"Yeah connect me to the President" Rina told him holding the phone at a distance away from her ear.

"_WAIT ONE MOMENT PLEASE; SHE WILL TAKE YOUR CALL!_" The person shouted out. He was loud and pretty annoying after a while but at least he was honest.

"Tori here, whatcha want?" Tori's voice asked.

"Tori…" Rina started off. "You have a scary receptionist" Rina told her.

"Oh that's Lucky on helium, anyways, whatcha doin?" Tori asked her.

"Well, I called for a favor," She replied. "Can you tell the old fart that Berry Man and Kookaburra are in Karakura and they haven't been abducted by the evil leprechauns?" She asked her.

"Ok…can I say that they were abducted by Santa's flying moosies?" Tori asked her.

"…well, what ever makes you happy…" Rina sighed. "Oh and could you get Unohana-taichou or some 4th division people to come down here…I'm kinda crippled and disabled at the moment" Rina told her.

"Aye-aye, I gotta go now, Dopey is unleashing the evil fire extinguisher on Grumpy, bye!" Tori said rushed and then, the dial tone.

"OI BALDY, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING…AND WHY ARE YOU HERE WITH _THEM_?" A voice shouted out angrily somewhere where Ichigo was. She was clearly angry and really, really strong. From glancing at the beaten up man at her feet, it was obvious that she was really strong or the guy was really weak.

--

"Uh…Shinji are you alright?" Ichigo asked cautiously at the lifeless, limp body of the vizard, Shinji.

"Just…dandy…!" Shinji gave Ichigo a weak thumbs up; the girl standing above him stepped forward closer to Ichigo…walking over Shinji in the process. "Ow"

"Are you deaf now? I asked you a question!" The girl snapped out at Ichigo.

"Um…I'm…visiting family and friends and I'm here with those people," Ichigo pointed at the shinigami behind him. "Because, I'm a shinigami captain of Gobantai now" He replied.

"Congrats" Shinji congratulated Ichigo on his accomplishment.

"Shuddup" The girl ordered him.

"Yes ma'am" Shinji said and fell over on the pavement again, passively.

"Do you not know our history you moron?" The girl asked him, quieter this time. Ichigo gave her a blank look, as if he had no idea of what she was talking about. "We had to leave Soul Society because we had hollow powers" She told him.

"Yeah but you guys weren't forced were you?" Ichigo asked her.

"Well actually we decided to leave because we didn't think that you guys would accept us because we're special" Shinji piped up lifting his head up from the ground. The girl slammed her foot on Shinji's head, slamming his jaw into the ground.

"Since you want to talk, why don't you tell me which one you helped out?" The girl bargained. Shinji sat up slowly and rubbed his head as he glanced over all the shinigami.

"The girl…" He pointed at Rina who was now talking to Byakuya.

"Typical" The girl sighed as she punched Shinji on the head. "Hey lady, you owe us one!" She yelled out at Rina. Rina stared at them like they were aliens. "And that was the one and only time we'll ever help you!" The girl went on.

--

"…What's she talking about?" Byakuya asked Rina as he helped her stand up by providing her a support system.

"Well…that guy that just got his ass whooped…he kinda helped me out with Nnoitra" Rina replied. Both of them noticed the girl's cold, hard glare at them, full of murderous intent. Not normal for an adolescent…well a NORMAL adolescent. It became very quiet all the sudden and the air filled with this hostile feeling. Everyone could sense it depicting from their uneasiness. "She's going to attack us…" Rina murmured to herself, getting a strange gut feeling and the little voice in her head backed her up on that instinct. "…Behind you, Byakuya--!" She yelled out suddenly causing him to react instantly. She was right, once both whirled around they saw the girl with a hollow mask on the side of her head and her eyes were now black in color. They quickly thwarted the girl's attack and jumped a great distance away.

"How did you know that she'd attack us?" Byakuya asked her curiously as they kept their eyes on her. Ichigo and Shinji tried to restrain the girl but she was obviously stronger and obviously, scared the crap out of them.

"I dunno…I just had this feeling" Rina replied. She truthfully hadn't the slightest clue as to how she could tell that the girl which was now obviously a vizard like Shinji would attack them. There wasn't a fluctuation in reiatsu, no body language to show it, nothing. It was like a primal instinct that had kicked in and realized something was going to happen.

"OI HIYORI, GET A GRIP WILL YA?" Shinji yelled out at the girl and smacked her on the head. A move that he'd regret since Hiyori retaliated by punching him square in the jaw.

"What did we ever do to you!?" Ichigo asked her.

"Figures" She huffed. "You wouldn't know anyways" She said dispersing her mask and returning to her 'normal' self. "Oi, dickhead, come on we're leaving" She concluded walking away from the sight. Shinji trudged after Hiyori not after muttering a few apologies to the shinigami.

"That was weird" Urahara commented.

"No kidding"

---

"Quinto Espada…Nnoitra Jiruga…" Akon muttered as he read a file on the new test subject. It had been a while since he'd been assigned to an experiment this big. "…strongest _Hierro_ in Espada history…" He continued scanning the page, learning more about his subject. He wouldn't be working solo of course. Though he was a highly experienced scientist, something like experiments on the arrancar had to have Mayuri involved. If he didn't get himself involved…then something was definitely wrong. "Great, where to start…?" He wondered closing the file.

"Akon-san…" A timid voice spoke out from behind him.

"Hm, ah fukutaichou-sama" He greeted Nemu who had stepped in ever so quietly.

"Mayuri-sama would like to see you" She told him. Akon shrugged his shoulders and went off to see his taichou; he probably wanted to get more test results from the Espada before they conducted their research.

---

"YAMA-JII…!" Tori shouted out as she zoomed into Ichibantai. Yamamoto looked up for a moment but resumed his work. "Message from Rokubantai Fukutaichou, Tsukiyomi Rina" She suddenly snapped out formally, which surprised Yamamoto. "Berry Man and Kookaburra are in Karakura!" She told him in a singsong voice.

"What?" He asked surprised as he jolted up from his seat.

"Yeah…they forgot to get their permission slips signed by a parent or guardian" Tori further explained. "And they forgot to pay too huh" She added on. Yamamoto clearly ignored those last to statements as he wondered why anybody would let the 2 captains leave Soul Society when he clearly stated that no one else would leave Seireitei. "OH AND," Tori piped up grabbing his attention. "We need medics sent down there, Rina got a booboo" Tori told him.

"Right…Shinboku, I normally wouldn't ask you of this but," He started out calming down from the sudden announcement. "I want you to head down to Karakura with the medics as well" He told her surprising her slightly.

"…why _moi_…?" She asked him pointing at herself.

"You're one of the only people that would even think about yelling at a captain despite your rank. You may bring Kurai along with you as well. There is no one else as you two who can lecture a captain and won't get hurt by them" He told her.

"…ROADTRIP!" Tori suddenly yelled out excitedly as she zoomed out the division and went straight for her friend. "HEY MIKA," She yelled out seeing her friend. "WE'RE GOING ON VACATION, WE'RE GOING ON VACATION, WE'RE GOING ON VACATION…!" She sang out happily.

"AWESOME, LATER TAKO-CHAN"

---

"I'm guessing that we're going to be in a lot of trouble" Ichigo sighed. He and all of the shinigami that he was with had now retired to the Urahara Shoten.

"What's this 'we' stuff?" Rina asked skeptically. "I'm only here because Master Roshi…I mean Yamamoto-soutaichou sent me here" She told them.

"Yeah and you failed miserably" Ichigo muttered.

"I did not! Nnoitra got captured didn't he?" Rina pointed out.

"Yeah, but you got a broken leg and arm and possibly damage to the brain" He shot out.

"Hey the damage to the brain was always there, you're the one that has brain damage!" Rina retorted…sorta…

"I didn't understand a word you said" Ichigo muttered.

"So, Ichigo…those vizard people are your friends?" Isshin asked him. Yes, Isshin was in the Urahara Shoten as well. Since his daughters knew of his shinigami form, he could roam around as a spirit. But he did return to his gigai just so he could make a living without people yelling out 'ghost!'…though he forgot one time…

"Yeah…I guess…" Ichigo replied. "They helped me control the hollow in me" He explained.

"You're a vizard too?" Rina asked him surprised. "No wonder you're so weird!"

"You're one to talk…" Just as Ichigo said that Urahara entered the room with Tessai; Yoruichi was in some other room and Ururu and Jinta were out front doing chores…well Ururu was, Jinta was doing…whatever Jinta does.

"Hey Geta-boushi," Rina called out lazily. "When will your kidou spell thingamajig kick in?" She asked him. "My arm and leg still feel like…well I can't feel anything!" She told him.

"Wait 5 more minutes, it should work, but you'll feel pain--!" He told her with a witty smile. She glared at him in response. "Ah right, Kuchiki-taichou may I have a word with you?" He asked him. Byakuya got up and followed Urahara out the room into another one. Tessai remained in the room with Isshin, Ichigo and Rina.

"So…" Rina started off. "You're the decorator I see" She said. Tessai looked in her direction as if he was waiting for more. "Good job!" She gave him a passive thumb's up sign mainly because she was scared of his reaction if she said that it sucked. Tessai was happy…but it was kinda hard to tell…until he brought out a box of _Puffs_ tissue.

---

"…it's just only for a few days; surely you can manage work on your own right?" Urahara asked Byakuya. Byakuya didn't reply instantly but gave it some thought. Urahara had proposed that Rina stay at the Urahara Shoten for a while since he sensed something strange in her reiatsu and he wanted some background knowledge. He seemed to know something but wouldn't say anything.

"If it were only up to me I'd say no" Byakuya replied. "But then again, if it's for her well being then yes, however…" He continued on. "I'm not the one that would tear you apart for this suggestion" He told him causing Urahara to recoil a bit. "You should ask her two best friends" He told him.

"…her best friends?" Urahara asked confused.

"Mika and Tori; the three of them decide practically everything together. You should ask them first" Byakuya told him.

"…Where do you expect me to find them?" Urahara asked scratching his head. His answer came to him—literally. Mika and Tori burst through the door of the Urahara Shoten with some 4th division medic's right behind them. "No, not the door…!" Urahara moped gazing at his messed up doors.

"Oh whoops…" Tori muttered kicking the broken bits aside as she and Mika walked in.

"Hey Rina, you rang?" Mika asked as she walked up to her friend.

"Hell yeah, I think Urahara's kidou spells suck ass cuz it's been 5 minutes and I still can't feel my arm" She said casting a light but meaningful glare at Urahara's direction. "I need professionals…" She added on causing Urahara to frown.

Well to make a long story short, Urahara proposed the idea to Mika and Tori of letting their friend stay behind a few extra days. They smacked him. He pointed out that he'd help her in terms of strength and anger management. They supported him…then smacked him. And in order to save himself from being smacked again, he said that they could visit anytime they wanted to and had a 98 percent discount on whatever he had in the shop. They agreed to his terms. And smacked him as a thanks.


	11. Trap

_Wow...I wonder how long it's been since I've updated...(if anyone was keeping track, I'd be REALLY surprised). Well by now I think that a bunch of you have thought that I've ditched this story or something. Yeah, yeah, I know it's my fault for taking so long. Well 97 percent of it is due to my extreme laziness and lack of creativity, 2 percent of it is because I forgot where we were (oops...) and the final 1 percent is because I fractured my wrist and unless I take painkillers, it really, really hurts. Well to all you people who were waiting for this chapter...(I don't know who'd that be now...) here it is!!_"

* * *

Ne, Urahara, when are you gonna train me?" Rina asked boredly, lifting a magazine that was concealing her face. Urahara didn't respond and went on with his work, in fact, everybody in the Urahara Shoten was working on something. "…I knew nothing good would come out of this" Rina muttered irritated as she got up from her lounge area and walked outside where Ururu and Jinta were sweeping up the outdoors…for some reason.

"Where are you going?" Urahara wondered, poking his head out the doors.

"Experimenting" Rina answered casually. Urahara raised an eyebrow at this, after all, all she had done in the last 2 days was complain, mooch, and jack up electricity bills. This was something new and probably… no, **definitely** was a really, really bad idea.

"…What are you experimenting on?" Urahara asked cautiously walking out to where she was.

"Gonna see if it's possible to carjack someone here" She responded.

"What?" Urahara asked clueless.

"That's impossible" Jinta told her walking over to the two with his broom perched on his shoulder like a baseball bat. "Even if you knew how to carjack someone, it's still impossible" He told her with a smartass attitude.

"Oh really, and why's that?" Rina asked Jinta.

"One, practically no one owns a car in Karakura" Jinta pointed out.

"He has a point there…" Urahara agreed.

"Two, you have no weapon and are hardly a threat" Jinta continued on. "And three, you don't have the guts to carjack someone" He finished with a proud smirk plastered on his face.

"Okay, one, there's a poor sap over there in a car; two, I have a potato and 15 minutes worth of karate lessons to back me up; and three, you just watch and see!" Rina retorted and ran off zealously.

"It's never gonna work" Jinta said.

"I dunno about that…" Ururu murmured shyly pointing in the direction Rina had run off to. Jinta and Urahara took a second look and saw her returning with her twirling a bunch of keys around her finger. She then threw them towards Urahara's direction.

"Congratulations, you are now a proud owner of a Honda Civic" She congratulated him and walked back into the shop leaving a stunned Jinta and Urahara.

"…How is a potato a threat…?" Jinta wondered.

"The real question is how did she get that potato?" Urahara said blinking confusedly at the newfound keys.

* * *

"Guh…it's so boring without someone to yell at us whenever we screw up at something" Tori sighed as she slumped down onto the sofa.

"I know, and to add to this boredom, Tako-chan and Berry-man are leaving for Hueco Mundo tomorrow!" Mika moaned lying lifelessly on the floor of their house.

"Why?" Tori wondered confused. "We don't have a reason to go there anymore"

"I dunno, something about Yama-jii wanting to rid of the Espada now that they're seen as a threat again and wanting some people to keep a closer watch on Karakura Town…" Mika responded.

"What about Nnoitra?" Tori wondered out loud.

"Ya mean Mr. Pissed-Off-Spoon?" Mika asked.

"Yup" Tori nodded.

"I dunno, probably sulking over the fact that he doesn't have a jail buddy" Mika shrugged.

**Meanwhile In 12th Division's Holding Cells…**

Obviously Nnoitra wouldn't sulk about not having a jail buddy, he was plotting his escape which wasn't going to be easy since his powers were sealed off and all he could really do was use brute strength. Lately, he had become the most 'popular' test subject—something he wasn't proud about.

"Oi," Someone called out, gaining Nnoitra's attention. He looked out of his cell to see Akon strolling calmly over to his cell. Nnoitra harrumphed and simply ignored Akon's presence and continued, secretly, his escape plan. "OI" Akon repeated now a bit annoyed from being ignored. Once again Nnoitra didn't respond; the usually calm and collected Akon was now frustrated and clanged the bars hard to express it.

"What?" Nnoitra spat out irritated, glancing back at Akon uninterested.

"Kurotsuchi-tai – "I don't give a damn" Nnoitra interrupted Akon before he even began.

"Kurotsuchi-taichou asked me to unseal your powers" Akon repeated monotonously.

"…What?" Nnoitra asked, now getting excited. Akon smirked at his reaction.

"Thought so…"

--

Back in Karakura Town, training had finally commenced between Urahara and Rina. To put it simply, it was a battlefield in the underground training facility. Kidou blasts would shoot out from almost any direction, deep crevices would appear suddenly, rocks and debris would occasionally fly up into the sky with dust clouds following soon after. Out of breath, both Rina and Urahara appeared on the ground, glaring each other down.

"Well…" Urahara started his 'grading report'. "Kidou: A+; looks like you can master kidou spells without needing the chant up to #75. Shunpo: B-; it's not bad, but I've seen faster. Swordsmanship: B; good power, accurate most of the time, but still a bit sloppy. Hakuda: B-, C+ range; need strength and muscle work" He reported to her. "One more thing…" He muttered; disappearing and reappearing in front of Rina in a flash. He knocked Hanabi out of her hands and sent it flying a few feet away from them. "Your fire manipulation techniques aren't based on your own power; rather, your zanpakutou's" He informed her.

"Eh…?" Rina blinked confused at him.

"Whenever I'd knock your zanpakutou out of your hands, or when you weren't in contact with it, you couldn't use fire to your advantage…correct?" He questioned her. She thought about this for a while…and soon realized that he was right. Whenever Hanabi wasn't in contact with her, she was unable to create a spark.

"So that means…" She started, drawing up a conclusion. "…I'm…normal?!" She exclaimed surprised. Urahara blinked blankly at her.

"I don't think normal is the right word…" He told her bursting her celebration bubble. "Well, for the time being, I'll leave you to Yoruichi; once she finishes teaching you the easy stuff, I'll take you on again to see if there is any improvement" He said walking away.

"HOLD IT" Rina shouted out. "Isn't Yoruichi stronger than you, considering the fact that she was a captain before you, and not to mention, your _**senpai**_?" She asked wonderingly. "And also, what was the point of delaying my return to Soul Society?" She asked him.

"Hmm…how do you put it…?" He wondered scratching his head. "Well, a certain noble would be very depressed and cold-hearted again if you died through an idiotic battle that anyone can win" He told her with a witty smile.

"Huh?"

"Just tell Little Byakuya to thank us after we finish your training" Yoruichi said jumping onto the battlefield. "Well, let's start!"

* * *

"You bastard; you said you'd unseal my powers!!" Nnoitra spat out angrily from…a ball pit, full of bright colors.

"Oops…did I say 'unseal'? I meant _unveil_!" Akon smirked enjoying the sight that the Quinto Espada was getting pelted aerially with the balls via Tori and Mika.

"Unveil what!? That you're all a bunch of idiots!?" He yelled out with a look that could kill.

"That's old news!" Mika laughed at him while throwing a blue ball at the back of his head.

"Yeah, we knew that a long, long, long time ago!" Tori added on, kicking the pit, sending multi-colored balls up into the air, showering the fuming Espada.

"You guys just dissed yourselves…you know that right?" Akon asked wonderingly.

"At least they're honest…" Nnoitra grumbled. "…UNLIKE YOU!!" He spat out furiously and then got caught up in a hailstorm of plastic.

"Sweet, these things work perfectly with a tennis ball shooter thingamabob" Mika beamed proudly.

**((**Note: Do **NOT** try this no matter what; I know it sounds kinda fun but still, **DON'T DO IT!))**

* * *

"Heh…? Kurosaki-taichou and Abarai-taichou are heading to Hueco Mundo tomorrow?" Kyouraku asked surprised after hearing this news from Ukitake.

"It seems like it" Ukitake nodded, taking a sip of tea. Kyouraku sighed boredly.

"How long has it been since we've gone on a trip like that?" He wondered staring up at the blue sky dotted with a few poofy white clouds.

"It can't be helped, besides, it's always nice to have fresh hands on our side" Ukitake pointed out. "Plus, those two idiots can get anything done, considering the fact that everything they do becomes a competition." He added on.

"That's true" Kyouraku agreed. "But don't you think Yama-jii is being too careless?" He asked.

"What do you mean?" Ukitake questioned.

"Well think about it, we still don't have a replacement for 3rd Division's captain, 6th Division's lieutenant is on leave, and now 5th and 9th Division's captains will be gone. Doesn't it seem like we're vulnerable for an attack anytime?" He asked, bringing up points to consider.

"That's true but we still have a strong front; especially with someone as reckless as Zaraki-taichou and also we have someone as skilled as daisenpai"

"Right, right…can't forget daisenpai…or it'll get real scary" Kyouraku shuddered. Ukitake simply nodded not wanting to imagine a scenario.

* * *

Ukitake and Kyouraku were 100 percent correct on Ichigo's and Renji's behavior. From the start, it became a race to get to Hueco Mundo. Then it became a competition on who could cut down more hollows. And then the next thing you know they were yelling and practically fighting with each other, even though they were supposed to work as a team and get through it discreetly. The two captains walked into a large empty room that was lit, yelling their heads off, steam blowing out of their ears, and causing massive echoes in the stone room.

"What the hell are you talking about!?" Ichigo yelled at Renji. "_Batman_ is **WAY** better than _Spiderman_!!" He yelled out furiously.

"That's crazy talk! Everyone knows that _Spiderman_ would own _Batman_ anytime!" Renji retaliated gritting his teeth angrily.

"How would he!? All he has is spider powers; I squish spiders **EV-E-RY-DAY**!!" Ichigo roared out.

"NO WONDER IT'S BEEN RAINING LATELY!!" Renji threw his hands up into the air from realization. "Well, all _Batman_ has is the _Batmobile_ and _Robin_; he has **NO SPECIAL POWERS**!!" Renji pointed out.

As this very idiotic argument unraveled, it was apparent that all this noise would attract some curious beings. These beings just happened to be who they were looking for…

"Well, well, well…" A nostalgic voice yelled out, capturing the two captain's attention…amazingly. They looked up at where the voice came from. Up on top of a high ledge stood a male figure, his hands shoved in his pockets. The light blue hair gave away who he was and his icy blue eyes clearly explained why he had showed up. "It's been a while…Kurosaki!" He smirked.

"Grimmjow…" Ichigo muttered glaring back at him.

"Ah…so you remember my name after all. That's a good thing Kurosaki, otherwise you would've died a pathetic death" Grimmjow smirked jumping down from the ledge, landing a few feet away from Ichigo and Renji. From this point on, no words were exchanged; just an intense glaring showdown was taking place.

"Ichigo" Renji called out; Ichigo looked at him through the corner of his eye. Their eyes met and as if through telepathy, they understood what the situation was like.

"…**MINE!!**" They shouted out instantly and dashed madly towards the unsuspecting Grimmjow.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" He yelled out from the surprise attacks. Luckily for him, he jumped out in time and landed safely a good distance away from the rabid idiots. Once the dust settled from the impact he saw their true power. Where he was standing before was now an enormous crater, but, both captains had disappeared. Grimmjow didn't have to look though, automatically he knew where they were; all he had to do was turn around. He looked back and was pleased that he'd get a good fight today. Both captains were in Bankai and their reiatsu clearly stated that they wouldn't hold back no matter what.

"You told me before that you hated it when people would look down on you" Ichigo started bringing his left hand up to his face while his right clenched Tensa Zangetsu tightly. "And that you hated how my eyes always said that I could beat you" He continued, gathering spiritual energy, creating a blackish energy. "Well guess what," He swiftly brought down his hand creating the mask. "THAT'S BECAUSE I **ALWAYS** DEFEATED YOU!!" He yelled, his tremendous reiatsu crashing down on the palace. Grimmjow's eyes widened at the sudden outburst, his hands trembling slightly from excitement.

"Don't look down on us either" Renji told him, his reiatsu crashing down as well causing the columns and beams in the palace to break down slowly. "We're not the same reckless idiots from back then so whatever you do…DON'T YOU DARE LOOK DOWN ON US!!" Renji roared swinging Hihou Zabimaru in Grimmjow's direction with an amazing outburst of power; Ichigo joined in on the attack but releasing a black Getsuga Tenshou. With the combined power of both captains and not to mention, the crushing reiatsu, the one part of the palace where they were currently, blew out from the amazing force. Vast amounts of dust rose into the air, blocking off a clear visual of the wreck. Boulders littered the ground while sand poured in what was left of the room—Grimmjow was no where to be seen nor could his reiatsu be detected.

"That was too easy" Renji commented scanning his surroundings.

"You're right…he can't be that weak; he must've gotten stronger in all this time" Ichigo agreed, looking around as well. As if on cue, Grimmjow's reiatsu was detectable again, it was weaker than it was before but it was definitely there. Harsh hacking coughs and the sound of rubble being pushed aside could be heard. Soon after, those coughs turned into a low rumble of laughter. Ichigo and Renji prepared themselves for any sudden attack from the Espada.

"'Don't look down on us'? 'We're not the same as before…?'" Grimmjow laughed at these comments clearly not believing any part of it. "You've got to be shitting around; it's so obvious that an idiot can tell" He sneered at them while they glared daggers into him. "You guys haven't gotten any stronger at all; in fact you guys are _weaker_!" He yelled out at them. "The only thing that increased is your stupidity and that stubborn ego that pisses me off. You guys are acting as if you're scared, scared that I…or should I say _we_ would harm those important to you" He smirked confidently at the captains who hadn't moved a muscle. "Again with that tough act; I'll be honest with you and give you a piece of advice. _**WE AL-REA-DY KNOW**_; and right about now…Nnoitra should be dealing with them" He smirked at their faces now inflicted with shock and worry.

--

"Hm…looks like for once he didn't take it too far…" Stark yawned at the scene.

"That has to be an accomplishment, but can he really take both of them on at the same time; after all, they look pretty strong!" Lilinet, Stark's Fracción, questioned skeptically.

"He'll be alright" Halibel said, stepping forward from the shadows. "After all, we've already targeted their weaknesses…even though it was just a _lie_"

"Looks like it's our turn, right, Ulquiorra?" Yammy asked looking to his partner. Ulquiorra's emerald green eyes pierced through the darkness and didn't say a word. He turned on his heel and walked out slowly. "Jeez…cold as ever" Yammy muttered trailing behind his partner.

* * *

_Okay, this is just a heads up, but it might take a while for the next chapter to come out (cuz of my wrist...) I'll try to get it out **BEFORE** the end of May...no guarantees...and while you're waiting...I'm thinking of adding someone that I think might be a bad idea... new 3rd Division Captain...Amagai Shuusuke? Well, since I still have an opening for 3rd division captain...and the anime just put some random guy in, I thought why not? It depends on you guys...the readers cuz I don't want to add someone that no one really likes. You guys have a month to decide (since that might be the timespan for the next update or two) so if you guys review...just give me a response like Yes or No. That's all you have to do--until the next chapter, ByeBye!!_


	12. Invasion and Treason

Alarms blared continuously as Soul Society was put into a state of high alert. It wasn't like this didn't happen recently so it was pretty much second nature to them.

"Agh, what is it this time!?" Akon groaned as he rushed into the lab's doors. He'd left Nnoitra to Tori and Mika – something that he'd probably regret – to meet up with his captain or so he thought… "Where's taichou?" He wondered out loud.

"Several Menos are intruding Soul Society and 2 Vasto Lorde's are with them!" One member reported to him out-of-breath. "It's a possibility that they are waging a war with us now"

"… a real one or one like we had a few years ago that could barely be called a war?" Akon asked not entirely convinced.

"Well, it seems like it's a real one…" Rin spoke up sauntering in calmly munching on a cookie. "But everyone's thinking it's more of the second one since anything can happen" She continued.

"OK then, taichou is…?" Akon wondered.

"Emergency meeting, same with fukutaichou"

"Listen up! Everyone here is in charge of Soul Society's security status. If something occurs, no matter how insignificant it may seem, report to me immediately! Also, regarding our hot-headed Espada, our division will be in charge of watching over him. Don't screw up this time!" He yelled out, ordering people around.

"Do actually think that we can control that Espada?" Rin asked with uncertainty.

"If those two idiots can keep him in one room, I don't see why we can't" He shrugged, marching off to retrieve Nnoitra.

---

Yoruichi, in her cat form, looked up at the sky sensing an ominous aura approach. Urahara walked out and stared up at the sky as well, knowing almost exactly what would happen. Karakura didn't seem like the target this time, but Aizen had targeted it before and his Espada might have the same intentions. Nevertheless, a strong holding barrier was erected to protect Karakura.

"Ne, Kisuke," Yoruichi started, looking at him through the corner of her eye. "Do you think it was wise for us to let Rina return back to Seireitei? Especially with the plan that we've set up" She wondered, this topic bugging her for a while now.

"Who knows, hopefully she and the other 2 can pull it off. It won't be easy, knowing how soutaichou-san deals with betrayers" Urahara replied, pushing his hat down snugger to his head.

"And also," Another voice spoke up. "If you'll need our help, we'll be there ta' help you guys too"

Both Urahara and Yoruichi glanced back, even though they really didn't have to. Urahara coughed nervously, trying to hold back his snigger.

"_**If**_ we'll need your help…" He started off but trailed off not being able to complete the sentence.

"Oi, Shinji! Don't make more work for us!!" Rose protested waking up abruptly from a little nap. All of the previous captains, vice-captains that were now vizards, _(including whatever Hacchi's position was…) _were currently present in the Urahara Shoten after being called up by Urahara.

"We _can_ return can't we?" He wondered out loud.

"Won't they try to kill us? They would've if Urahara-taichou and Yoruichi-taichou didn't take us with them to Karakura" Lisa spoke up thinking logically.

"That's… true…" Shinji muttered.

"Pathetic as always" Hiyori spat out. "A dickhead will always be a dickhead…" She muttered on.

---

Ulquiorra and Yammy finally made their way into Seireitei, the city of chaos one could say. A dozen other Menos and lesser arrancar had accompanied them as well. Grimmjow was still fighting Ichigo and Renji; how long that battle could last was questionable, but he had an important task of keeping the two captains out of Soul Society. The top 3 Espada were currently watching over things in Hueco Mundo – completely oblivious of Ulquiorra's and Grimmjow's plan…

"I'll go find that bastard Nnoitra" Yammy grumbled leaving in a flash. The other hollows and arrancar ran off attacking people like they normally would do. Ulquiorra was about to take a step forward until he felt an intimidating presence from behind him.

"Looks like we're lucky today taichou aren't we?" A cocky voice asked his captain.

"Yeah," A husky voice agreed. "But this one's mine got it?"

"Yes sir Ken-chan!"

"I have no time for trash like you" Ulquiorra said walking off calmly.

"Trash…?" Yumichika spoke up offended. "You're calling _ME_ trash…?!"

"Ah shut it Yumichika." Ikkaku hollered out to his offended friend. "Huh…? Where did he go?" Ikkaku realized Zaraki was no longer beside him but charging at a frightening speed towards Ulquiorra.

"What a waste of time" Ulquiorra muttered, bringing forth a single finger and pointed in the direction of the mad Zaraki. "Die" A powerful blast shot out and hit Zaraki; which also, as a result destroyed the walls behind Zaraki creating a shortcut for lost people. He was about to leave once more when he heard sinister laughing. Zaraki hadn't died; no one could kill him – that much was known throughout Seireitei.

"It's been a while, since I've met someone who could make me shed blood" He grinned. For the most part, he'd been able to dodge it; the blast just nicked his left side of his body. As a result, the left side was bleeding but that didn't faze Zaraki at all. He smirked and charged once more towards Ulquiorra with his (nameless) sword drawn out. As he was about to swing he disappeared from sight, slightly surprising Ulquiorra, and reappeared behind him ready to strike him.

At the moment Ulquiorra wasn't concentrating on his fight with Zaraki. A certain person was closing in on the area – fast – and he didn't like how the result would be. A bright display of sparks and a loud clash rung out as Zaraki's blade met with another. Ikkaku's and Yumichika's eyes widened for a split second at seeing who had parried their captain's blade.

"What is this," Zaraki started, not losing his focus. "Is Seireitei full of _traitors_!?" He yelled out, applying more pressure on his zanpakutou.

"Your actions were unnecessary." Ulquiorra hissed out quietly.

"Well so~rry! But I told you, Urahara and Yoruichi also said, that you shouldn't start meaningless fights!!" The person who turned out to be Rina, spat out. "True, that I shouldn't have done this but I had no choice" She hissed at him while ridding of Zaraki's zanpakutou.

"If fighting is unnecessary, then get out of here" He told her as he grabbed her arm and disappeared to another part of Seireitei.

"What the hell is going on?" Ikkaku wondered.

"Should we report this?" Yumichika wondered out loud.

"Nah," Zaraki said sheathing his sword. "This is getting interesting" He said with a widespread grin emerging on his face.

"Shit!" Ikkaku cursed suddenly, wide-eyed. "Where did fukutaichou go?" He shouted out frantically looking side-to-side, up-and-down so hard that he pulled a muscle.

---

"…I think we're in trouble…" Tori stated, standing confused in the bubble pit with Mika. Nnoitra was **nowhere** to be seen.

"Why, all Spoon-head said was that he wanted to go to the washroom" Mika said, throwing the plastic balls out the window, hoping that she'd hit someone.

"Mika, it's been **10 minutes**! Who has to go the washroom for 10 MINUTES!?" Tori asked, starting to freak out.

"Maybe he has violent dia—"OKAY STOP!!!"

Tori stopped Mika from saying something that she obviously didn't want to hear. She was about to speak again when suddenly, a large group of shinigami and Onmitsukidou members showed up. One member stepped forward with a piece of paper in his hand.

"Kurai Mika, Shinboku Tori; under orders of Captain Commander Yamamoto Genryuusai-Shigekuni, you two are under arrest for suspicion of aiding with the enemy and for treason." He stated.

Mika and Tori stood silent and had a concerned look on their face. Not because of Nnoitra's unusually long washroom break, but because of what had been said.

"…What?" Mika and Tori said in unison, clearly confused. "We didn't do anything!" Mika said throwing an orange ball at the guy.

"Arrest them." He ordered.

"Hey wait!! I demand justice!!" Mika yelled out defiantly as two officers grabbed her on either arm and started to drag her away.

"I WANT MY LAWYER!!" Tori declared, sharing the same fate as Mika. "AND SOME FUDGE!!" She added on.

_Some troublesome hours later…_

"Man, what the hell happened?" Mika pouted staring out the cell window.

"I dunno old people and their decisions." Tori sighed, shaking her head in disappointment. "Hey, what the hell did we do!?" Tori asked the jail guard who was watching over them so that they wouldn't escape.

"As far as I know, you two and your friend as well, are being charged with treason and aiding the enemy." He replied promptly.

"…can you be charged with treason even _now_?" Mika whispered over to Tori.

"I dunno but all the punishments here are all by execution. It's possible." Tori replied.

"Why are we stuck in medieval times up here, when down there they get awesome stuff like cake and pudding?" Mika asked grumpily.

"Yeah I know… what did he mean by our friend also being charged…?" Tori wondered. "Does he mean Rina?"

"Is she back?" Mika questioned, trying to sense her friend's reiatsu.

"If loud, angry shouting can be heard, then she's back." Tori said, knowing Rina's temper when things weren't going well.

"I'll try to get us out of here, and then we'll find Rina and kick those old guys' asses!!" Mika declared triumphantly.

"How?" Tori asked. The jail cell they were in had a lock, sturdy bars, no sign of possible weakness and also a guard.

"It's called watching all seasons of Prison Break on DVD." Mika said, standing up to work her magic. "In the meantime, try to demand that we get a lawyer." Mika added on.

---

"Shit. I'm in trouble." Rina groaned, covering her eyes in frustration. She recently heard of her arrest warrant and that she was now on Seireitei's Most Wanted list. "If you guys hadn't started causing chaos here, then this wouldn't have been so damned frickin hard!!" She yelled out at Ulquiorra and Yammy who clearly didn't care.

"Shouldn't you leave then, if you're so scared of being caught?" Yammy asked her. "After all, there's a higher chance of you being caught here with us, then down there" He pointed out.

"It's already too late" Ulquiorra muttered. Just as he said that, they were surrounded by Soifon's troops.

"6th Division Lieutenant, Tsukiyomi Rina; you are hereby arrested for suspicion of aiding the enemy and for treason." Soifon spoke up, stepping forward. "Please turn yourself in or else we will have to use violent force."

"If you turn yourself in now, your punishment won't be so severe." Another voice spoke up. Rina turned around to see Ukitake behind her as well as Kyouraku.

"You're kidding me, all of you guys believe that I'm betraying Soul Society!?" She asked in disbelief. "…Suddenly it makes sense why Aizen and his amigo's ditched this place." She muttered quietly to herself. It was unusually quiet and calm for some reason; with two Espada in the vicinity, why would it be so serene? And then it hit her like a ton of bricks, both Ulquiorra and Yammy had ditched her. "Those assholes…!!" She grumbled clenching her fists together.

"Rina, turn yourself in now. We don't want to believe that you're going against us, this is only a chance for you to clarify your actions." Ukitake spoke up again.

Rina sighed heavily, knowing that negotiating with captains in this type of situation was impossible. "Fine," She said stepping forward towards Soifon. "I'll turn myself in peacefully and I will testify my actions towards you."

The cuffs that blocked out any form of spiritual power were brought out and were given to Soifon. Just as she was about to lock on the cuffs, Rina muttered something.

"Like hell I will!" She shouted out as she released Hanabi and created an explosion. Once all of the smoke had cleared away, Rina was gone, half of Soifon's forces were totaled and the suspicion of treason just got even worse.

---

"I can't believe we got out." Mika gasped exhausted from running, hiding in an empty alleyway.

"I can't believe we found fudge!" Tori exclaimed happily, not worrying about their situation. "Oh my god!" Tori suddenly gasped out. "It's Yammy! What do we do?" She wondered out loud, now more excited than frightened. Mika just glared at the Espada.

"That guy owes $28.95 plus tax for that pizza I got him!!" She yelled out and lunged for the unsuspecting Espada.

"The hell!?" Yammy yelled out, surprised. He grabbed Mika's arm and threw her back to where Tori was. "I told you already, I'll pay you once I find enough change from the couches!!" He yelled at her angrily and disappeared.

"Psh! Excuses, excuses!" Mika huffed, clearly not satisfied.

"What's this? Abandoned traitors?" A high-pitched voice rung out from above the 2 shinigami.

"More like practice targets to me." Another voice, slightly lower-pitched responded.

Mika and Tori looked up to see 3 female Arrancar smirking down at them. Mika glanced for 1 second and then started to walk away. Tori was still enjoying her fudge and started guess what the poofy white clouds looked like.

"HEY! Don't ignore us!!" 2 of them yelled angrily.

"Umm…who are you?" Tori asked confused.

"What?"

"I've never seen you before, so an introduction might be nice!" Tori rephrased her words using a hint of sarcasm.

"Apache!"

"Sun-sun"

"Mira Rose!"

"Doesn't ring a bell" Mika muttered walking away with Tori following behind her.

"Dammit!" Apache grumbled, firing up a cero and then releasing it.

"I so didn't want to fight today" Mika groaned.

"Ruining my fudge moment…" Tori growled angrily.

Both shinigami used shunpo to dodge the cero and reappeared behind the arrancar. Mika drew out her zanpakutou with a sudden interest in fighting the three. Tori cast away her fudge – much to her dismay – and also drew her zanpakutou out.

"3-on-2 isn't really fair…" Tori muttered.

"That won't be a problem though." Mika assured her. "Barike-do, Bakufu!" She released her zanpakutou, revealing its icy blades. "Plan C, 'kay?" Mika decided.

"Un." Tori agreed. "Kiritsukeru, Hitofuki!" Tori released her zanpakutou to the fan created of blades. In a flash however, she disappeared to be seen nowhere.

"Your partner ditched you or something?" Apache asked getting cocky.

"Just get it over with" Sun-sun sighed boredly. Both Apache and Mira Rose glared at her. She always spat out smartass comments to them and it got really annoying at times.

"Fubuki _(Snow storm)_" Mika suddenly said calmly. Snowflakes started to fall gently at first, but then the temperature plunged to -10 degrees Celsius and kept dropping. Gentle winds started to swirl through but it got more and more violent. Soon, the situation Mika had set up had turned into a snow storm. Where was Tori in all this? The winds could be a sign…

"Ow, shit what the hell was that!?" Apache cursed; she suddenly had a huge gash on her right arm from something invisible. In a matter of seconds sharp, burning gusts of wind were blasting through the storm. This was Tori's work, with her incredible shunpo and her zanpakutou's techniques; she could attack swiftly and silently as if she were invisible. Normally, one would escape however for the 3 arrancar; escape was out of the question. They were trapped in this violent wind and snow storm.

"I've had enough!!" Mira Rose screamed and released a cero.

"Damn…" Mika muttered. She dodged with ease to the side; their barrier, no matter how violent it was it couldn't block a cero completely.

Once the violent storm from hell ceased, the 3 angry arrancar's faces could be seen. They were cut up, breathing quite heavily and all bruised up.

"Don't you dare look down on us!" Apache roared. She stormed down to Mika's direction opting for an all out fist-fight. Mira Rose decided to scout out Tori for a battle and Sun-sun… decided to watch from the sidelines and criticize her teammates. Of course, with this kind of battle going on, it was inevitable that a crowd would draw near…

---

"Soifon-taichou!" Oomaeda yelled out, stomping through his division's corridors. "I found them! Tori and Mika!!" He yelled out excitedly pointing in a direction repeatedly.

"Why didn't you get them then!?" Soifon yelled out angrily. Oomaeda withdrew slightly from this outburst, although, then again it wasn't very unusual for him to be yelled at by his captain.

"Well… they're in a battle…" He said scratching his head. Soifon glared at Oomaeda from this inadequate answer. "They're fighting three arrancar!" He restated earning a confused look from his captain.

"Why would they fight the arrancar if they're going against Soul Society?" She wondered, not understanding at all what was going on. From reports from various divisions, people had witnessed Ulquiorra and Rina storming their way through Seireitei. Since Mika and Tori were very close to Rina they assumed that those two would be involved somehow.

"Taichou…?" Oomaeda asked meekly. "What should we do then? This doesn't count as treason or aiding the enemy does it?"

"I'll report this to Yamamoto, in the meantime your job is to defend Seireitei! Don't you dare come back until they leave!" She ordered before leaving swiftly.

"The hell is going on…?"


	13. Escape!

"W…what the hell is that!?" Tori gasped at the tremendous beast hovering just feet away from her and Mika. _It_ was a chimera of some sort as it was a mixture of different creatures. To be more specific, it was a combination of Apache's, Mira Rose's and Sun-sun's left arms; somehow when 3 left arms combined together, a beast would be formed.

This battle had been dragging on for quite a while and Tori and Mika were winning just barely after the 3 arrancar decided to get serious. Now, it seemed like the shinigami were the underdogs. The 3 arrancar, though beaten and bloodied up, were now smirking with complete confidence.

"Quimera Parca" Apache smirked. "It's our pet, constructed by our 3 arms in our released states; his name is Allon." She explained.

"…Can't you have a pet goldfish or something?" Tori asked them. "Or better yet a rock, no shit to clean up"

"Doesn't matter, the bigger they are, the bigger the fall" Mika said hurriedly as she dashed forward to attack.

"Wait Mika, don't!!" Tori yelled out. The beast named Allon, did likewise and charged towards Mika and a frightening speed.

"_Something's wrong!" _Mika suddenly had a feeling to drop her ideas of fighting and just move. She was able to dodge just a bit to prevent a fatal blow to her.

"Where'd she go?" Tori wondered looking all over for her friend.

"Aww… looks like Allon won. Too bad she's dead; she put up a pretty good fight." Mira Rose smirked.

"Guh…! Shit…" Mika's voice cracked out as she collapsed by Tori's side. Mika was in really bad shape; when she had dodged, she had prevented a deathly blow to her however, it didn't mean she left unscathed. A chunk of her side was missing and was bleeding badly. Furthermore, the vital organs in that area were badly damaged; left alone, Mika would die.

"Pay attention!" Mira Rose shouted out. Tori looked up to her horror to see Allon charge once more in their direction. It was obvious that they couldn't fight against that thing.

"TORI, SHUNPO NOW!!" A familiar voice shouted out. Tori immediately did so and successfully moved out of the way of Allon's path. "You okay…?"

"Yeah… somehow…" Tori answered. Rina had showed up to help… well it wasn't her original intention; all she had to do was find the two of her friends. Rina used her kidou to put up a greenish kidou barrier around Mika's open wound. It was to prevent anymore blood loss and to stabilize the vitals as best as she could.

"Tori get Mika out of here." Rina instructed her. "I'll hold off these guys for a while; then I'll join up with you."

"Okay, got it. To… the place…?" Tori asked her. Rina nodded.

"Don't get in contact with anyone!!"

"Playing the superhero now?" Apache sneered at the lieutenant. "Wasted effort. You'll die here and when Halibel-sama comes, Seireitei will fall" She grinned with pure malice on her face. "Allon, go!!" She ordered her pet. Allon kind of… 'sniffed' out the air and started to creep off into another direction. "The hell!? He's not listening to me!!" Apache yelled out furious.

"Jigoku no Hi! (Fire of Hell)" Rina shouted out, catching their attention once more. Black flames started to manifest in a ring around the 3 arrancar, plus the pet. It suddenly enveloped them in a cocoon of flames. It was a temporary barrier that would cause some damage by burning away at whatever was inside. But since the arrancar had proven themselves as pretty strong, they wouldn't die from just that.

---

"What's that…?" Some shinigami looked up to see what was supposed to be 3 arrancar and a beast, but now it was a black orb of flames. Some members of 6th division recognized it and started to search around for their lieutenant, but she was no longer there. There was no time to waste though, they had to get rid of the enemy and protect Soul Society. With 3 Espada wandering around in Seireitei, hell was sure to break out.

**Meanwhile with the captain's meetings…**

"Tsukiyomi Rina, Shinboku Tori, and Kurai Mika; these 3 offenders have been charged with treason and aiding the enemy." Soifon started out. "However, it was witnessed that both Shinboku and Kurai were fighting against 3 arrancar just moments ago. Due to this, my troops were unable to capture these 3 as we believe that our accusations were wrong." Soifon concluded.

Worried looks and confused looks were painted across the captain's (that were present) faces. What exactly was going on? If it was some sort of prank, this was in no way humorous to the captains at all. Right now Soul Society's defenses were weakened due to the fact that 2 captains (Ichigo and Renji) were in Hueco Mundo, and also 3 of the positions were still unoccupied.

"Due to these recent actions…" Yamamoto started out. "The charges laid against them will be dropped but, I still request that they are brought here and properly interrogated. The main priority right now is to defend Soul Society by any means necessary. All divisions, take up your positions and fight with everything you have!"

All captains nodded and disappeared within a flash to attend to their divisions. Yamamoto sighed deeply and started to leave the room. "For how long will Aizen's actions torment Soul Society…?"

---

**Meanwhile in Hueco Mundo…**

"AGH! NEL LET GO!!" Ichigo yelled out as Nel, in her child form, had found Ichigo and was clinging onto his arm for dear life.

"I could use some HELP here, _ITSYGO!!!!_" Renji yelled out at Ichigo while still fighting Grimmjow who was now in his released form. Some Super Saiyan Panther Form like thing…

"Nel let go!" Ichigo yelled out wrenching the kid off of his arm.

"B-bu-but Itsygo!!" Nel wailed flailing her arms in the air. "There's something you need to know!" She yelled at him.

"Tell me later!" Ichigo responded, now running from Nel as if she were his enemy or something.

"Id's VERY, VERY important tho'!!" She told him. As she was running, randomly Dondochakka showed up and decided to play 'tag' with the 2. Well that was his intention until he saw Renji.

"RENJI!" He boomed out happily, he jumped up and was about to land on him like he had tried some times before but had failed.

"WHAT THE--!?" Renji yelled out terrified. He dodged, letting Dondochakka smack straight into the ground.

"That hurt!!" Dondochakka cried.

"How many times do I have to tell you? You can't go jumping on people like that!!" Renji yelled at Dondochakka.

"…my job is so much easier than I'd thought it'd be…" Grimmjow muttered looking around for the remaining Espada that were supposedly watching the fight. "Just a few more minutes and they should be gone…"

--

"I've had enough of this nonsense." Halibel left the castle of Las Noches and was most likely headed for Seireitei.

"Stark~ you goin'?" Lilinet asked curiously to her superior. Stark was lying on a makeshift pillow bed, barely paying attention to the fight that was… or supposed to be occurring. He yawned, blinked a few times, scratched his butt and then rolled over on his side. In a matter of seconds he was sound asleep. "…I guess that's a no…"

---

Meanwhile with Nnoitra…

"Can't believe they thought I was going to the washroom…" Nnoitra smirked while walking around the chaotic streets of Seireitei. He was scouting out for a formidable battle opponent. So far, he couldn't really sense anyone that was worth kicking around. He did pick up Ulquiorra's and Yammy's reiatsu a few minutes back. He was wondering what that was about, he narrowed their coming to Soul Society to 2 possible explanations.

1. They were going to cause chaos and destroy Seireitei with or without him; or

2. They were considerate enough to rescue him.

He decided that it was more of 1; option 2 was an insult, and if it was number 2 he would kill them.

"Well, well, what do we have here…?" A harsh sounding voice erupted from the chaos. Nnoitra looked back to find the owner of this voice. It was Zaraki, he was itching for a fight and Nnoitra seemed to be his target. Nnoitra was looking for a fight himself too, but never would he have thought that the fight would come to him. But what surprised Nnoitra was how similar to two of them were. Freakishly tall, eye patch, similar looking grins, and huge weapons… Zaraki was probably the first person that was at eyelevel with Nnoitra.

"Damn that's freaky…" Nnoitra noted the similarities. It was like he was meeting his doppelganger.

It didn't take long for a battle to commence the two. Because if their immense power and reiatsu levels, a lot of buildings were destroyed and the ground eventually was reduced to large slabs of rock. Their fight was moved to the skies which created much more damage. You couldn't walk anywhere underneath them safely as there'd be an aerial attack every now and then.

Meanwhile, down below…

"Is that… shit I hope not…" Akon grumbled, recognizing the immense spurts of reiatsu coming from no other than Zaraki Kenpachi and their own arrancar Nnoitra Jiruga. "Kurotsuchi's gonna kick my ass…"

"WHAT IS GOING ON?????" A harsh voice shouted out angrily. "I found out that you imbeciles can't contain ONE single arrancar and then you let someone like Zaraki fight him!?" The angry man was Kurotsuchi. His eyes were bulging out, veins popped out in frustration, and either arm flailing in which ever direction. It was a very freakish and quite traumatizing scene; it looked as if he were going to explode.

"I apologize on behalf of our division; however, our main priority was to protect Soul Society. From all these intruders from Hueco Mundo, surely we could capture new subjects IF we lose our Espada." Akon reasoned to the best of his ability. When working in Division 12, you had to be able to think up legitimate excuses to save your ass. Mayuri grumbled something unintelligible and stormed off, probably to go yell at Division 11 members. Akon sighed in both relief and disappointment; he had successfully evaded a lecture involving words of profanity for every sentence, but now his job was to play "Catch the Arrancar".

---

"OW OW OW OW OW--!!!!!" Mika screeched from the burning pain… literally burning at her. "What the hell Rina!? That is used to kill people, not save them!!" Mika yelled out at her friend who was using the black flames from Hanabi to heal the missing portion of her side.

"Do I look like an idiot…?" Rina asked her sternly. Mika gave her a hard look, opened her mouth to say something… but chose not to, she was in no position to smartass her way out of it. "Smart move" Rina muttered. The black flames were originally used to fight, but it also had some healing properties – if used correctly.

The room they were in right now was kind of like a secret base. It was very similar to Urahara's underground training chamber except for this room; the ceiling had properties similar to the sekiseki rock. It would block out spiritual power, but it wouldn't be as strong as the sekiseki rock. In short, their reiatsu's would be hidden for the most part, but they were able to use any form of spiritual power only that it'd would be reduced in terms of effectiveness. This little hideout was discovered by Tori during her time at the academy. Skipping class had paid off as this room was serving very useful.

"…do you think we should've told Shiro-chan or something about where we are and what we're doing…?" Tori wondered out loud while searching for a bag of chips that she had stashed in the room not so long ago.

"Captains can't shut their traps, if they knew they'd go tell Yama-jii" Mika told her as she learned to endure the pain that she was going through. "Plus, considering all the stupid things we've done in the past, won't they assume that this is one of our pranks…?"

"A prank that involves 3 crazy schizophrenic arrancar girls and a pet that has the brain capacity of a flea?" Rina asked.

"…isn't that us minus the arrancar part…?" Tori asked innocently. Mika and Rina took some time to ponder this out. The description… did really fit them in some of their pranks that they'd wreak havoc on.

"…yes… but, we're not that destructive…are we…?" Rina asked unsure of pretty much anything now.

"You know, I've never thought about that." Mika spoke up just realizing all the things that they'd done in the past.

"Psh. Not like we can change what we did now!" Tori laughed out grabbing a handful of chips.

"True, besides it's not like anyone told us to stop… right?" Mika added on.

—**Back in the academy…—**

"_Uh oh" Tori grumbled as she left the room she was working in and ran all the way to the other side of the academy buildings. She covered her ears and shut her eyes tight as a huge explosion erupted from what was once the science laboratory. Huge pink bubbles filled the air and kept on pouring out. Whatever Tori had mixed together, intentionally or accidentally, was gonna take over the whole entirety of the science wing._

"_I just heard an explosion, what did you do?" Mika asked running over to Tori excitedly. _

"_Why do you assume that __**I**__ did it?" Tori asked._

"_No one creates explosions like you or me" Mika pointed out. "What did you do, I wanna learn so next time I can use it to ditch class!" Mika plotted out evilly._

"_Um…I put the green stuff with the blue stuff and put in this really pretty pink thing in and put in strawberry-scented bath salts so it'd smell good" Tori told her, remembering all the things she had put in._

"_No wonder it smelled like strawberries" Rina walked up to them after nearly being run over by a mob of teachers. "Anything else…?" _

"_Um… I think there was a glowing thing too…" Tori pondered. _

"_What did you put in anyways?" Rina asked now curious._

"_I dunno" Tori shrugged. "Besides, who leaves things like that alone!? You're just asking for them to be mixed together!" Tori pointed out._

"_Guys, we'd better run, those old guys are gonna hunt us down!" Mika warned them as she started to retreat._

"_Let's go!"_

—**End—**

"Wasn't there also the time when we just graduated…?" Mika asked, remembering a certain scenario involving fireworks and a geyser.

"Oh yeah!" Tori and Rina exclaimed in unison, remembering their spectacular masterpiece.

"Wanna do that again?" Mika grinned, envisioning the scene.

"…when and where!?"

---

"What the hell are they doing!?" Hisagi grumbled as he led Division 9 members through the maze of corridors of Seireitei. He was in charge now since Renji had left for Hueco Mundo with Ichigo and he had a hell lot of work to do. Especially since Mika was now on "Wanted" posters and he had the responsibility of finding her and dealing with the problems that she had caused. How did Zaraki, Ukitake and now Renji, deal with her?

"Hisagi!" Rangiku shouted out as she ran up to him. "Any sign of Mika or Tori?"

"No" He sighed; he couldn't detect their reiatsu's at all which was very odd because, not once did they conceal their reiatsu's. Subtlety wasn't in their nature at all.

"Taichou is gonna go crazy…" Rangiku muttered under her breath. "Ah!" Rangiku stopped in her tracks suddenly, Hisagi did the same. Mika's, Tori's and Rina's reiatsu's were present again and moving away fast. But what confused them was that, the three's reiatsu's… were moving away from each other's…

"All of you continue on to the West Gate!" Hisagi ordered to his team members. "Rangiku" He motioned towards her. She nodded, and used shunpo to track down Tori while Hisagi went after Mika.

During their pursuit, they couldn't help but wonder why they were moving so fast. Tori's shunpo was the best, but even she couldn't achieve the speed they were going at. Had they been holding back their full potential all this time?

---

"…o…kay…South Gate is opened!" Rina sighed a deep breath of relief. "Mika, think you'll be okay?" She asked her.

Mika was stretching out her arms and legs, readying herself for the journey ahead of them. "Yeah… it stings a little but I think I'll be okay" She assured her. "Couldn't you give me painkillers though?" Mika pouted having only her life saved and bandaged up.

"NO" Rina said sternly. "Remember when you were addicted to painkillers?" Rina reminded her.

"…THEY WERE CANDY-COATED!!!" Mika protested. "You can't make meds with CANDY-COATED flavorings on it!!"

"I'm ready to go!" Tori shouted out triumphantly tossing her empty bag of chips away. "What were those things Urahara gave you anyways?" Tori wondered out loud to Rina.

"Some reiatsu transmitter thingamajigs he made." Rina told her.

The three of them were still hidden away in their secret room. The reiatsu that Hisagi and Rangiku picked up on were indeed theirs however, it was being carried away by someone else. It was a little device that was activated by the user's spiritual power. That spiritual power would emit the reiatsu of the user. If the device was put on someone else, that person would be carrying around the original user's reiatsu. It was used to mess up people trying to track others down. Of course, you could only get it from Urahara; Seireitei would never let it be sold on home turf. Currently, the 3 shinigamis' pets were creating a mass wild goose chase. This gave them the perfect chance to leave Seireitei undetected.

"Before we go…" Rina started off. She removed the lieutenant's badge on her arm and placed it down on the ground. "I am not going to do this as a lieutenant… no way I'm gonna be liable for people that can't swing a sword right" She muttered.

"Why'd you even accept the job anyways?" Tori wondered. She and Mika had been wondering this for a while now.

"I thought they were kidding around when they said I met the expectations. And then when they made me go through the test, I thought they were messing with me. Then out of the blue I was a lieutenant." Rina grumbled. "You would think those guys would have some common sense considering EVERYTHING we destroyed."

"I think they lost it when they met us" Mika spoke up confidently.

"But anyways…" Tori piped up. "It's time for us to leave!"

In a split second, they disappeared and were racing towards the South Gate where defenses were lacking. Since their three pets were leading a wild goose chase, they were running towards the North, East and West Gates, away from the South Gate.

---

"Wh-what is this!?" Hisagi wondered out loud. Standing before him wasn't Mika; it was her outrageously enormous pet bat, Isamu.

-

"What's going on here…?" Hitsugaya wondered out loud as he walked up to his lieutenant who was staring directly at Tori's chimera.

"The reiatsu that I sensed before was undeniably Tori's though…" Rangiku wondered, completely confused at what had just happened.

-

"Taichou… it's not her…" Rikichi called out towards Byakuya.

"What the hell are they doing…?" Byakuya wondered staring at the wolf looking back at him.


	14. truth

Hitsugaya glared intensely at Tori's chimera. "For the last time, where is she!?" He shouted out, nearly exploding.

"Why do I have to tell you… _chibi_…?" Daichi wondered out loud, emphasizing the chibi part just to see Hitsugaya's reaction – he loved doing that whenever he could. Hitsugaya was set to explode at this point; Daichi just taunted him by lying down on the ground and dozed off into a little nap.

"I AM NOT SHORT!!!" Hitsugaya shouted out; he stomped up towards the chimera, waking him up, and tried to prove his point. **Tried**. Daichi stood up ever so slowly… he towered the captain by about half an inch. Rangiku's silent laughter grew louder and louder until she had to leave the area or else she'd be part of the injured. "…_please_ tell me where she is…?" Hitsugaya asked meekly after taking several steps back so no one could easily recognize the height difference.

"In a land far, far away from Seireitei" Daichi simply yawned out and started to walk away.

"…a land far, far away…?" Hitsugaya asked with a blank look on his face. Tori was _always_ in a land far, far away; Lala Land – the land of dreams and marshmallows and where wishes come true!

Byakuya and Hisagi didn't get very far on their interrogations either, Hiroshi and Isamu gave them strange riddles for them to follow as well.

---

"That stupid asshole Grimmjow!!" Ichigo growled out furiously as he and Renji raced back to Seireitei after learning that they had really been tricked to go to Hueco Mundo. They also learned that the rest of the Espada had already left for Seireitei while Grimmjow was beating them up. They only learned of this AFTER Nel and her buddies ganged up on Grimmjow so they could tell Renji and Ichigo their news; which incidentally was the truth. Once the two captains reached Seireitei, they could only see chaos unravel. "Oh damn…"

"I'll report to the geezer" Renji offered, having Zabimaru in shikai just in case someone tried to ambush him. He left leaving Ichigo alone to ponder about what his next move should be.

"Shinn, Emiko, Rukia!!" He shouted out suddenly and left immediately to find his family. He was confident in Rukia's skills so that took off some of the concerns he had, but for his two kids… anything could happen.

---

"Shinn… shouldn't we have stayed at home…?" Emiko asked her brother, staying close to him as they wandered aimlessly in the area of Division 5.

"And then what…? There's no action at home; there's only so much fake war stories I wanna hear from all the old people living with us" Shinn reasoned with his younger sister.

"But still… all we have for protection is a light-saber and a frying pan!" Emiko pointed out holding up the frying pan while Shinn guarded them both with their light-saber.

"Don't worry! Nothing will happen to us!"

"SHINN, EMIKO!!" A loud voice shouted out to them from a great distance.

"…dad…?" Both twins recognized the loud voice and looked over to the direction. In a flash, Ichigo was standing before them, in Bankai with his Hollow mask on. His kids had NEVER seen the hollow side of Ichigo before so they weren't sure if that was their dad. Emiko was frightened as hell and hid behind Shinn while Shinn held out the light-saber and pointed it at his dad.

"Who da hell are you and how do ya know our names!?" Shinn snapped at his dad trying to put up a strong front.

"What? It's me!" Ichigo told them, wondering why his kids didn't recognize him. "And who told you how to speak like that?" He asked him sternly, crouching down to Shinn's eye level.

"I'm doing the talking here!" Shinn shouted out bringing the weapon up to Ichigo's neck. "If you don't spill it, I'll use the force and kick your ass!"

"What!? Why you--!!" Ichigo was starting to get frustrated at his son's attitude. He realized for a split second that his mask was on… maybe that was why his children didn't know who he was… He ripped it off and stared at them. "Now do you know who I am!?" He questioned them… not realizing that he was still in vizard mode (his eyes were still black and yellow…)

"Shinn… that's not daddy is it…?" Emiko whispered confused in his ear.

"Looks like it but man is he stoned!"

"Wai—what?" Ichigo was the confused one now. Where did his kids learn these kinds of words?

"Dad?" Shinn piped up slightly lowering his weapon.

"Finally!"

"YOU IDIOT!!!" Shinn whacked Ichigo on the head with his light-saber. "Why are you doing drugs at a time like this, huh!? Mom's fighting so we can have a future and you were just hitting the hard stuff by saying that 'you had to go to Hueco Mundo'!? I can't believe you! I trusted you! I looked up to you!" Shinn hollered out whacking Ichigo every second.

"Daddy I don't like you this way!" Emiko wailed, raising the frying pan above her head to slam it down on her father's head.

"EMIKO STOP!!" Ichigo brought his arms up to prevent anymore injuries. Ichigo 'returned to normal' which surprised his children.

Shinn and Emiko blinked confused, not understanding what had just happened.

"Damn, I guess there's no problem now" Shinn shrugged and started to walk away with Emiko.

"Oh no you don't!" Ichigo stood up, his shadow looming over his kids' heads. "Shinn what did you say to daddy? And where did you two learn those words. I want answers now!"

"RUN!"

---

Seireitei did not look like Seireitei at this point. With fights occurring at every second, people chasing others around (i.e. Ichigo chasing his kids), people looking for other people and "hollow hunting"; no one could really say that this powerful, superior area was dignified at all.

1st division was handing out orders to every other division from the reports received. 2nd division, like most of the other divisions was protecting Soul Society from hollows and arrancars. 4th division was overflowing with injured shinigami. It was amazing how they didn't run out of beds and how there was no such thing as a waiting time. 5th division had 50 percent of their members running around chasing off hollows whereas the other 50 percent were wondering what happened to their captain who was reported to have returned. 6th, 9th and 10th divisions were almost in the same position as 5th. 50 percent fighting off hollows, 25 percent looking for the 3 missing shinigami and the last remainder, trying to figure out the riddles (which were pretty easy to figure out if they didn't analyze it so much). 11th division was having the blast of their time; eventually creating a contest on who could kill the most hollows/arrancar. 12th division was frantically trying to catch the hollows that were spared by the ruthless 11th division-ers; not an easy feat to accomplish.

---

"2 more for him… making it… 48…" Maki-Maki _(I forget his name…)_ silently talked to himself as he tallied off the scores for his fellow teammates. He chose to stay out of the fighting and take the safer, easier and "boring" job. So far, there was no one person that stood out at having the highest nor was there a person who had the least; everyone was pretty much even with each other. Then there was also the fact that a bunch of them were sent to 4th division's care… multiple times; people deciding to stop for a while and start drinking (since it was after 12); and people getting lost and "disappearing".

"Um… excuse me…" A timid voice spoke up with the sound of a door opening.

"Hm?" Maki-Maki looked behind him to see none other than Hanatarou peering meekly behind the door. "Whaddya want?" Maki scoffed returning to his scoreboard.

"I have a message from Unohana-taichou" He quietly reported. "She wants your division to quit recklessly running into hollows and attempt to get rid of them."

"What?"

"She also said that it was pointless to create a competition out of it since only Zaraki-taichou or Kusajishi-fukutaichou could actually win it…" He faded off and retreated a little bit seeing how it had offended the 11th division member. "It was her words not mine…" He tried to reason out of it as Maki started to walk towards him with an offended look. "It's only because we're in chaos from all the fights and there's so many people that we can barely catch up!! We're only human… well dead humans… but we're only human you know!!" Hanatarou frantically babbled out, backing up into the hallway until he hit wall. Maki just glared at him and was about to say something when two tiny little voices echoed into the hallway.

"GET OUTTA THE WAY!!!"

"Huh?" Both Maki-Maki and Hanatarou looked to their side (Hanatarou's left, Maki's right). Two tiny little specks off in the distance grew in a short amount of time with a large amount of dust trailing them. They were Emiko and Shinn, running away looking scared. They zipped past the two shinigami sending a gust of wind to fly through.

"What's their problem?" Maki wondered looking off at their fading silhouettes with dust still flying out. He then looked off in the opposite direction wondering what scared them that bad. His answer came quick; 5th division captain, Kurosaki Ichigo.

"Ichigo!" Hanatarou shouted out quite relieved. Ichigo heard him and stopped.

"Ha…Ha…" Ichigo tried to remember the 4th division member's name; sadly he couldn't remember.

"You don't remember my name?" Hanatarou asked looking quite depressed.

"More importantly though…" Maki interrupted. "Were you chasing those two kids?" He asked pointing off in the direction Emiko and Shinn ran to.

"Yeah, why?" Ichigo asked.

"Why? They're your kids whatever they did can't be as bad as when Kusajishi-fukutaichou almost learned about the birds and the bees" He told him.

"You guys told her that!?" Ichigo asked bewildered.

"It wasn't us!" Maki shouted out defensively. "Kurai Mika-dono almost did one time and same with Shinboku Tori-dono"

"Figures…"

"Ichigo… since you're my friend and all, I don't want you to get into trouble. But both Emiko and Shinn looked really scared; they can call Children's Aid and you can get arrested!" Hanatarou warned him.

"Er…" Ichigo never saw it from that perspective. "We're just ……playing a game… yeah that's it! No reason to worry!" Ichigo stammered, hoping they'd get his drift.

"What game?" Maki asked, somewhat curious.

"…um… Hide-and-Go-Seek…?"

Maki and Hanatarou looked off into the direction the two kids ran off to; then looked back at the captain.

"That's not hiding, Ichigo, that's running" Hanatarou pointed out the obvious.

"Well, they're really bad… at hiding" Ichigo stated hoping they would forget about everything.

"You're playing Hide-and-Go-Seek at this time!?" Maki asked doubtfully. "We've got a war going on; you don't see me and this guy playing games do ya?"

"Um… well… I uh…" Ichigo stuttered trying to find an answer that would get them off his back; he wasn't good at interrogations and lectures, which would explain why Rukia always got her way at home.

"Yamada-san! We need you back at the emergency wing!" A female shinigami shouted out from the other end of the hall.

"Uh, okay!" Hanatarou responded. "Looks like I gotta go now, I'll see ya guys later!"

"See ya Hanatarou!" Ichigo shouted out waving him off.

"You're lucky she showed up or you'd never remember that guys' name!" Maki sniggered at Ichigo.

"It's not my fault! That's a hard name to remember!"

---

"Karakura Town… no cars as always… why are we here!?" Tori wondered out loud, scanning her surroundings. Nothing ever seemed to change in Karakura.

"'Cause his majesty awaits!" Rina told them in an uninteresting voice pointing at Urahara's shop. Urahara was sitting at the doorstep waving at them with a happy-go-lucky grin on his face.

"Long time no see!!" He hollered out happily.

"Okay, seriously, why are we here?" Mika asked looking at Rina in the eyes. "If he wants his moose back, he can't have 'em 'cause I don't know where they went, they just left!" Mika blabbed out defensively.

"…I forgot about that…?" Rina and Tori both murmured to themselves.

"Urahara just wanted to tell us something that we don't know" Rina told them as she pushed both her friends from behind towards Urahara's.

"There's so much we don't know Rina; we'll be here for centuries once he finishes telling all the things we don't know!" Tori pointed out.

"Oi! What's taking so long!" A harsh voice that belonged to a female shouted out from within the shop. Hiyori stomped out and whacked Urahara full across the head, sending him flying into the dirt.

"GAH!" All 3 shinigami yelled out as they saw her. Tori and Mika didn't really know who she was but she was intimidating to say the least. Rina remembered the freak attack involving Hiyori and a bunch of other people. Hiyori looked up at the shinigami, muttered something, and then left with a scoff – Mika found those actions to be offensive.

"Hey you wanna go!!" Mika hollered out shaking a fist.

"Mika, don't. She's a scary kid" Rina warned Mika.

Urahara got up from the ground and dusted off his hat. He stood up to face the shinigami. "Well um… that person was Hiyori, my lieutenant when I was a captain" He explained to them.

"You're kidding" All three said in shock.

"She just owned you!" Tori pointed out.

"The power balance is all messed up…" Rina sighed, disappointed in Urahara.

"Captain… wait, you were _**strong**_!?" Mika gasped in disbelief.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that…" Urahara muttered and entered his shop. "Anyways, come inside I have something important to tell you guys" He ushered them in. All three stood firm outside, glancing at Urahara suspiciously. "…what…?" Urahara asked looking side-to-side, up-and-down.

"I dunno…" Mika started off. "Every time we do something and you're involved, something REALLY bad happens to us…" Mika told him.

"Like what!?" Urahara screeched out, not believing her.

"Like when you came to Seireitei as Mayuri's replacement…" Tori pointed out. "During that whole time, weird shit kept happening"

"They have a point" Yoruichi spoke up, suddenly appearing beside Urahara, scaring the life out of him. "But we really have to tell you something, so come inside already!"

"Ok." All three calmly walked inside when Yoruichi welcomed them in.

"…why?" Urahara wondered, all alone.

_Inside the shop…_

"Holy…" Mika gasped, seeing all the vizard, jammed packed in Urahara's living space. Then, her eyes found Hiyori's, they had a glaring contest as sparks shot out from their eyes, scaring everyone else.

"If she was a lieutenant…" Tori wondered. "Then does that mean, everyone else here was a shinigami…?" Tori asked Urahara.

"Yep." Urahara nodded.

"Hirako Shinji, 5th division captain; Aikawa Love, 7th division captain; Muguruma Kensei, 9th division captain; Otoribashi Rojuro… or Rose; 3rd division captain" Urahara introduced the former captains, pointing at each one.

"Kuna Mashiro, 9th division lieutenant; Yadomaru Lisa; 8th division lieutenant; and you guys know my lieutenant, Sarugaki Hiyori" He introduced the rest, leaving one bigger vizard left.

"Who's that?" Mika asked pointing at him.

"Ushoda Hachigen, vice kidou captain" Tessai spoke up introducing the man.

"…kidou captain?" Tori wondered out loud.

"Never heard of a position like that" Mika added on.

"Maybe he's making it up…" Rina wondered. The three girls started to whisper to each other to try and figure out what a Kidou Captain was.

"Eh-hem!" Tessai coughed, to grab their attention back. "I was the Kidou Captain of the Kidou Corps, when we were still in Soul Society" Tessai explained.

"…maybe that's why we never heard of them" Mika pointed out.

"Yeah, maybe they don't exist anymore 'cause both of them left!" Tori pieced things together.

"…The Kidou Corps still exists…" Urahara tried to tell them but failed.

"Anyways!" Yoruichi spoke up. "All of them including myself, will be going to Soul Society"

"…why…?" Rina wondered.

"Can you guys even go?" Tori asked doubtfully.

"Shut up and let me finish!" Yoruichi snapped impatiently.

"Yes ma'am" Both girls saluted, quite scared.

"When Yoruichi-san and the rest of them leave" Urahara started off.

"When we leave, Urahara is gonna tell you guys why Aizen has targeted you guys, and the important task that all of you are going to have to do" Yoruichi completed Urahara's lines.

"That was what I was gonna say…" Urahara moped, drawing circles on the floor with his forefinger, in his corner.

"Aizen targeted us?" Mika asked confused, not remembering any moment when Aizen had targeted them.

"When he tried to take your zanpakutous, when he first introduced you to Seireitei and was your guardian practically when you guys first became shinigami" Yoruichi pointed out.

"I thought he was being nice… minus the zanpakutou part" Tori pouted, feeling slightly betrayed.

A short while after, Yoruichi and the vizards left for Soul Society, leaving Urahara all the glory of storytelling. Tessai was also present in the room too, just to fill in any missing details; but Urahara made sure he didn't leave anything out.

"Pull out your zanpakutous" He ordered the three, and they followed through. "Use shikai" He told them.

"In here…?" Mika questioned his logic.

"Just do it" And the three did; nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Rina's was a sword of black flames, Tori's a fan made of blades when opened up (a sword when closed) and Mika's an ice dagger. "These forms right now, are not their true shikai form" He told them with a serious look on his face.

"We know that" The three piped up, taking Urahara by surprise.

"Well that saves me a story to tell…" Urahara muttered, as the three put their zanpakutou's away. "That just leaves me with the story of your father's and why your family was killed off, leaving only you three to survive… plus a bunch of extras…" Urahara told them, gaining interest from the three girls now fully paying attention. "Like when Aizen faked his death when Ichigo and the others went to save Rukia, he pulled the same trick years before which sealed the fate of your families"

"Kyouka… Suigetsu…" Rina muttered silently, knowing of Aizen's zanpakutou's abilities.

"Exactly. I'm going to tell you what happened, from the beginning"


	15. Turn Back the Pendulum 1

Character Review, for you and me

**Tori's Family**

Shinboku Yuudai: Father; 5th division 6th seat – 5'3'', dark messy hair, green eyes, gets angry easily

Shinboku Keiko: Mother; Geisha (a singer) – 5'2'', long dark hair tied up into a bun, brown eyes, good cook

**Rina's Family**

Tsukiyomi Tatsuya: 5th division 4th seat – 5'6'', dark spiky hair, red eyes, possibly has ADHD, overprotective

Tsukiyomi Saki: Mother – 5'3'', shoulder-length jet black layered hair, brown eyes, has kidou skills, wears the pants in the family most of the time

**Mika's Family**

Kurai Jiro: Father; 5th division 5th seat – 5'8'', straight blond hair, blue eyes, has a tendency to sleep in any position, anywhere, anytime; mediator

Kurai Aiko: Mother; Artist – 5'4'', mid-waist straight blond hair, green eyes, head designer of the house; knows voodoo (and is successful with it)

(see a similarity…?)

* * *

It was a perfect day in Soul Society, clear skies, moderate temperature, and everything in peace with nothing flawed about it. Well, except for some roofs of the buildings that was in 5th division's domain. Why? The previous day was a testing day; a day for the captain and the lieutenant to see the strengths and weaknesses of their division by one-on-one combat with each member. Unfortunately, some people took it to the extreme and attacked the buildings instead of their actual target.

"Oi, Shinboku, get off yer lazy ass and start fixing things!!" A voice shouted out from below to a shinigami, lying on the rooftop that he was supposed to fix. He rolled over on his side, disgruntled and retorted to the shinigami that had yelled at him.

"Shuddup, Tatsuya! And what's with calling me by my last name? I thought we were close buddies!!" He yelled out, kicking off some loose shingles off the roof and nearly missing the angry shinigami down below.

"I'll call you by what I want; just do something!" Tsukiyomi Tatsuya yelled out, shaking a fist at him.

"My god you guys are noisy!" Another voice exclaimed. Kurai Jiro arose from his little nap, underneath the trees in the courtyard of 5th division. "Give it up Tatsuya, Yuu-chan won't do work, you know that. Everyone knows that." Jiro tried to reason with his friend. In the corner of Jiro's eyes, he saw someone walking towards them. He groaned and picked himself off the ground. "Never mind what I said, let's start working!" He pumped his fists in the air and jumped onto the roof and sat beside Yuudai. "Tacchan, get up too… unless you want fukutaichou to lecture you on weird stuff…" He motioned his friend to "safety" from their lieutenant, Aizen Sosuke.

"Ah… crud…" Tatsuya moaned and joined his two buddies and pretended to fix the roof. It was a mystery why they were chosen to fix the roof. They weren't roofers let alone handymen. You just had to ask their families, and they'd tell you that they were horrible at fixing things. They started to hammer away, trying to make Aizen leave. From the moment they graduated from the Shinigami Academy and entered 5th division, they did not like Aizen. He seemed "too nice" as they'd say.

"So, Yuu-chan how's lil' Tori been doing with her anger management lessons?" Jiro questioned, having three nails in his mouth, hammering away at the roof.

"Are you trying to be funny with that short joke?" Yuudai snapped at Jiro. He had a problem with short jokes, since he was shorter than his friends; he never really stood in between them, ever.

"…I didn't mean in that way… sheesh… like father like daughter…" Jiro grumbled.

"Yeah it's working" Yuudai suddenly responded, not sounding angry like he was three seconds ago, surprising the other two. "What about you… Mika's scared of everything, how are you guys dealing with it?" He returned the question.

"Ah… Aiko is doing some sort of 'therapy' with her… through art. I don't understand art so she's in charge" He told them, actually fixing a part of the roof… successfully. "Hope it works though, she's so scared of everything! Bugs, shadows, the dark, freezer burn, the wind blowing, telephone ringing, the last leaf on the tree branch that is barely hanging on but manages to stay attached to the tree even in a strong gust of wind – if it falls is what I'm getting at…um…" He listed off all the things his daughter was scared of, it took a LONG time. Seeing as the list would never end, Yuudai turned to Tatsuya and asked him the same question about his daughter.

"Crybaby as usual" He simply replied. "I don't get it… she has the least confidence out of anyone in the family… I really don't get it" He grumbled.

"Maybe your attitude is making her cry" Jiro brought up, forgetting about the list.

"Huh?" Tatsuya looked up dropping the hammer in surprise.

"I don't know maybe she needs someone with a huge ego to help her out" Jiro shrugged with Yuudai agreeing.

"You'll never catch me!" A loud feminine voice rang out through 5th division. In a flash, a younger version of Yoruichi was flying through the courtyards. She eventually made it to the three "roofers" and stopped to taunt someone that was apparently chasing her. "Still can't keep up, even with all that special training!?"

"Shuddup you cat monster!" A younger masculine voice snapped. Yoruichi grinned and disappeared still taunting the boy. "Get back here!" The boy appeared, and jumped off the roof the three were fixing. To Tatsuya's misfortune, the boy's foot kicked a loose shingle back and it hit him in the face.

"You little sh-t, get over here!" Tatsuya roared grabbing the boy by his ponytail, yanking him back.

"What the hell, let go of me you weird old man!!" The boy yelled out, angering Tatsuya even more.

"O-Old…? Weird?" Tatsuya's eye twitched with fury as he brought a fist up to eye level with the boy.

"Wait a minute… he looks familiar doesn't he?" Yuudai questioned, trying to poke around in his memory where he had seen this boy before. His eyes traveled to the emblems on the boy's clothes. "Wait… isn't he--!?" He looked at Jiro to make sure he was right.

"Kuchiki-taichou's grandson isn't he?" Jiro looked at Yuudai confirming their thoughts.

"… TATSUYA LET HIM GO!" They yelled out warning their friend that he would commit a serious crime. They ran up and pulled the two away from clawing at each other and held them back until they calmed down.

"Tacchan, this is Kuchiki-taichou's grandson… Byakuya-kun" Jiro pointed out to the clueless Tatsuya.

"…Kuchiki… Kuchiki…" Tatsuya pondered the name; he recognized it, but couldn't tie any loose ends. "Ah!" He suddenly exclaimed. "The old geezer captain of Division 6?" He asked his two friends who were standing in shock. Jiro suddenly clamped his hand down on Tatsuya's mouth and pulled him away farther from Yuudai and Byakuya.

"Do you know what you are saying!? Kuchiki, they are powerful, rich, elite nobles that are highly respected in Soul Society!! How did you forget that!?" Jiro asked in shock.

"………"

Tatsuya eyed the little kid that was supposed to be of noble birth. "How many fingers do you see?" He held up two fingers to check his friend's sight; Jiro glared at him and swatted his hand down. "_That_ kid, is of noble birth!? I dunno what you and Yuu-chan see but I see an arrogant brat waiting to be beaten up!" He stormed off towards Yuudai's and Byakuya's direction, scaring Yuudai more than Byakuya. "Listen here kid!" Tatsuya ripped Byakuya out of Yuudai's grasp and held him by the hem of his shirt. "I dunno who you are and what's your problem but…" He trailed off, not knowing what to say next.

"…but what?" Byakuya asked seething with anger from how some random guy was treating him.

"…to be honest, I dunno… I only planned up to that line…" Tatsuya scratched his head trying to think of something.

"Oh shit… Tacchan let him go!" Jiro and Yuudai separated the two again and let Byakuya go. They hid in the trees trying not to be seen because, just at that moment their captain was walking in.

"Hm?" Their captain, Hirako Shinji walked in, slightly dazed and confused but could see three of his division's members hiding awkwardly in a tree. "Whaddya three doing?" He asked blinking clueless.

"Um… we saw a lost … cat…?" Jiro started off nervously.

"Yeah, and uh… we tried to catch it…?" Yuudai continued on, just as nervous as his friend.

"But…she ran away and now she's gone" Tatsuya shrugged off.

"Actually Hirako-taichou, there were slacking off on their job and bullying Kuchiki-taichou's grandson." A voice spoke up, angering the three men in the tree.

"…Sosuke… since when were you there?" Shinji asked turning around to face his lieutenant. Aizen pushed his glasses up and simply smiled as he walked towards the four men.

"Ever since these three started 'working'" Aizen explained.

"He was spying on us!?" Yuudai asked, offended by the lieutenant's actions.

"Not spying, looking out for you three" Aizen reworded Yuudai's line, which irritated him. Shinji looked back and forth between Aizen and the odd three.

"Okay, you three get out of the tree" Shinji ordered; the three followed through. "First, start working and second, don't bully little kids" He told them.

"Yes sir!" The three sighed, defeated.

"And Aizen" He turned his attention to his lieutenant. "Don't go around spying on people. No one is gonna trust ya if ya keep doing that" He warned him, eyeing him suspiciously. Aizen bowed apologetically and left soon after to do some other work. Once both Aizen and Shinji had left, and no other person was left to interrupt them, Jiro and Yuudai started to interrogate Tatsuya.

"So…?" Jiro grinned slyly. "Do ya think that Byakuya-kun can help Rina?" He asked innocently, earning Tatsuya's earnest glare of death. Tatsuya ignored them and started hammering away.

"If you ask me, I'd think those two would be perfect for each other" Yuudai nodded, grinning happily as well. Tatsuya stopped hammering and glared at the two.

"Since when did you two join the matchmaking business?" He questioned them. He took a deep breath and started hammering again, this time much more aggressive than he had before. "There is **NO** (slam) **WAY** (slam) **IN** (slam) **HELL** (slam) **I** (slam) **WILL** (slam) **LET** (slam) **HIM** (slam) **AND** (slam) **HER** (slam) **SEE** (slam) **EACH** (slam) **OTHER!!!!** (slam, slam, slam… crack…)"

At this point Yuudai and Jiro had backed away from Tatsuya and his wrath. The only time they'd seen him this angry, was when the local donut shop closed down. A small creaking sound was heard from beneath the three men. Tatsuya stopped hammering the roof as the three of them felt the part of the roof they were working on, sink down slowly.

"AHHHH!!!" They screamed as the roof caved in and they fell inside the building.

* * *

A few months had passed since then and all the captains and lieutenants were preparing for something; the welcoming of 12th Division's new captain. The previous captain had been promoted to some unknown position leaving her division running around frantic wondering who the new captain would be.

"Man it is quiet today" Jiro sighed happily, tipping his chair back so that it was propped against the wall.

"How can you say that?" Yuudai asked doubtfully, his green eyes scanning the laidback shinigami that was sleeping 90 percent of the time and eating the other 10 percent. He ruffled his messy dark hair in confusion and looked over to Tatsuya. He was sleeping… or dead… He was facedown on his desk, arms burying his head and light snoring could be heard.

"Oi Yuu-chan!" Jiro whispered over to him excitedly. "Warm water!!" He snickered, plotting to put Tatsuya's hand in warm water. Yuudai shook his head and mouthed 'no' knowing clearly of Tatsuya's temper. Jiro frowned disappointed, rocked his tipped chair on its two legs and rested his head on his arms to relax and shut his eyes. "So, heard anything of the new captain?" He asked suddenly to the only other conscious shinigami in the room.

"Nope" Yuudai answered promptly. He was now resting his head on his arms which were rested on the desk. He picked up a picture of his wife and kid and stared at it for a long time. It had been a few years since he had seen them in person. Jiro's crystal blue eyes snapped open suddenly; he stopped rocking and properly rested it on the floor. He got up from his seat and headed out the door. "Where you going?" Yuudai asked boredly.

"Gonna find out who the captain is" He told him as he walked out.

---

"Helloooooo--!!" Shinji's voice sang out at the doors of 1st division. "It's the captain of 5th Division! Could someone please open the door?" He requested in a happy-go-lucky tone of voice, but to no avail. "Damn I always have a tough time here; makes me nervous every time…" He muttered.

"Is that face of someone who is nervous?" Aizen asked his captain. "Please stop fussing over the ceremony just because you don't want to be here" He reprimanded his captain.

"Shut it Sosuke, you don't even know what I'm thinking" Shinji retorted looking back at Aizen as the door cracked open a bit.

"It opened, you can go in now" Aizen told him. Shinji looked back only to see a foot come flying at his face. He was kicked back with brutal force and was sent flying.

"Mornin' baldy Shinji!" A rough feminine voice shouted out. It was Sarugaki Hiyori, lieutenant of 12th Division. A sinister yet playful look was present on her face. Shinji arose, pissed, holding his face in pain.

"Hiyori you little--!!!"

"Apologize you little idiot!!" A loud voice boomed, smacking Hiyori's head to the floor. That person was Aikawa Love, 7th division's captain. He sighed about having to deal with Hiyori; it was better him than Shinji. Hiyori yelled back in protest, prepared to beat him to a pulp. Love kept pushing the idea that Hiyori apologize to Shinji, while Shinji was making taunting faces at Hiyori.

"Taichou, you should really stop. Especially in front of the other captains…" Aizen spoke up telling off his captain.

The four of them walked inside, to meet the other captains and lieutenants. Almost everyone was present; the only people missing were 1st, 10th, 11th and 12th Division's captains.

"11th isn't here…" Shinji remarked.

"Slacking off again" Love sighed.

**[Elsewhere in Seireitei…]**

Jiro was trekking through Seireitei in no hurry as he knew that the ceremony hadn't started yet. But from walking around, passing through division after division he could tell that the new captain was causing quite a commotion. Whoever he or she was, he hoped that they were as impressive as what people were made to think. He was nearing 1st division, he wasn't very close but he could hear a lot of talking, arguments and such. He heard footsteps approaching and found a hiding spot. He suppressed his reiatsu as much as he could and neared closer to the room. It wasn't actually soundproof so he could hear practically everything.

"Yeah but you know… we've been going through captains lately…" He heard Shinji say this which was then responded to by Kyouraku and Ukitake. He heard more conversations start from people he could recognize and from people he didn't recognize. What they were saying was quite strange but intriguing at the same time.

"The Royal Secret Service… Division 0…?" Jiro quoted Kyouraku's words, wondering what Division 0 was. He had never heard of The Royal Secret Service. Suddenly, before he knew it, the new captain had arrived… late. Jiro moved over to the windows to catch a glimpse of who the captain was. A confused, surprised, blond-haired man looking as if he was caught red-handed for a crime he had committed. The captains' reaction to the man was just as what Jiro's was; surprised. Jiro sighed and decided to head back, before he was caught by anyone important.

---

"So, what'd he look like?" Tatsuya asked Jiro who had returned a few minutes ago from his research.

"No one important, doubt he can handle a position as high as captain class." Jiro shrugged, not thinking much of the new captain. "Seems like he was part of Shihouin-taichou's division before he was transferred… 3rd seat I think that's what they said…"

"If he was under Shihouin-sama's command then he's probably pretty good, don't you think?" Yuudai spoke up, pointing this fact out.

"That's true… but that was 2nd Division; he's the captain of the 12th Division now. A huge difference don't you think?" Tatsuya pointed out the differences of specialties the two divisions had.

"Couldn't hurt to meet him though" Yuudai reasoned with them. Jiro and Tatsuya looked at each other sharing the same thoughts and agreed to at least give the guy a chance. They were about to head out the door when their lieutenant hauled them back.

"You three can go introduce yourselves, when you three explain why you Jiro, were spying on the ceremony?" Aizen asked calmly with that same old smile on his face.

"Damn…"

---

"So you three are from 5th division huh…?" Urahara questioned calmly, finally meeting the three shinigami. "Hirako Shinji's division right?"

"Yup" All three nodded. Urahara turned his eyes to the blond-haired man.

"You were spying on the ceremony weren't you?" He asked Jiro. Jiro flinched, surprised.

"_You suck Jiro_" Both Yuudai and Tatsuya coughed out silently.

"I was under Yoruichi's command before; don't take me lightly" Urahara warned the three who were taken aback to say the least.

"Right…er… we'll keep that in mind" Tatsuya scratched his head, now not doubting this person as non-captain material. "By the way, nice job on the place" Division 12's HQ was newly redecorated by Urahara himself. It used to be a 'normal' HQ like everyone else's, but he designed it to be a laboratory for experiments and such.

"Really?" Urahara asked slightly surprised. "Hiyori wanted to kill me after doing this" He sighed.

"Hiyori is temperamental and irritates people a lot" Yuudai pointed out with Jiro seething beside him. "For example…" Yuudai looked to his side, pointing at Jiro. "Jiro and Hiyori have a rivalry" He explained.

"I can't help it! She makes me so mad!!" Jiro clenched his fists. "No one makes fun of the Kurai family, **ya hear me!?**" He hollered out the last part so it could be heard by everyone. Jiro started to chant his family name, in order for it to be remembered and respected by whoever was walking by. Yuudai and Tatsuya decided it was time to leave and dragged Jiro out while he was chanting: **KU-RA-I! KU-RA-I!!**

---

"I'll say it again, I don't want to be a damned lieutenant" Shiba Kaien of Division 13 refused the position of lieutenant from his captain again as he was having tea with Ukitake. Ukitake sighed, defeated.

"By the way, have you heard?" Ukitake asked after taking a sip of his tea.

"Heard what?" Kaien asked.

"For the first time since you entered, there's a prodigy among this year's incoming members" Ukitake told him. This was followed by a bitter response from Kaien.

"I am not a prodigy"

"I heard that this kid, graduated from the Central Reijutsu Academy in one year" Ukitake continued on, which took Kaien by surprise.

"One year…? That's amazing" He responded, impressed. "How old is he?" Kaien questioned, now fairly interested.

"Hmm… you know Kuchiki's grandson right? Byakuya-kun?" Ukitake asked.

"Yeah, that little son of a…"

"Seems like he's of his age, or a little younger" Ukitake continued. "Also, I heard that he had a seated position waiting for him when he entered!"

"A seated position and that young?" Kaien pondered the possibility of that ever happening. "Looks like that lieutenant position is getting farther away from me isn't it?" He asked somewhat relieved but at the same time concerned. "So, who got their hands on this kid?"

"I believe… it was Division 5" Ukitake answered.

---

**[Later that night…]**

"… Well done, the rumors are true about you" Aizen complimented some person that had their back to him. "May I ask your name again?"

"It's Gin. Ichimaru Gin" A young boy, with blood splattered on one half of his face holding a bloodstained zanpakutou replied with a smile. A dead man was laying on the ground next them.

"How was our 3rd seat?" Aizen asked Gin.

"No good, a waste of my time" Gin replied.

"I see…"

---

"Our 3rd seat hasn't been around lately hasn't he?" Jiro wondered out loud and directed the question to Yuudai as they walked to work.

"Hm… yeah, it's weird he's always here…" Yuudai nodded realizing that in fact the 3rd seat of their division hadn't shown up for work lately. "By the way, where's Tatsuya?" Just as Jiro was about to reply a shinigami ran up to them, pale in the face.

"Guys, come quick!" He hollered out, panicking.

"Whoa, what's wrong?" Jiro asked trying to calm the shinigami down.

"It's… it's our 3rd seat…" He stammered out. "He's been murdered"

"WHAT?"

---

By the time the three shinigami arrived on the scene, the body was being examined by several 4th division members and Tatsuya. Many people from 5th division were crowding around wanting to see and know what had happened.

"Oi, Tacchan what happened?" Jiro hollered out. Tatsuya's crimson eyes met his friend's.

"He was murdered, several days ago at least" He told them.

"You sure it wasn't a hollow attack?" Yuudai asked, not believing that their 3rd seat would be murdered so easily.

"It definitely wasn't a hollow attack." Tatsuya responded. "C'mere" He motioned them over to the body. "See these?" He asked them, pointing to the wounds. "These were definitely made with a zanpakutou or at least a katana. It's too precise and tidy to be made by a hollow. Besides, he never loses to hollows, we all know that"

"… How much _CSI_ have you been watching?" Jiro asked curiously.

"That's beside the point" Tatsuya ignored Jiro's question. "Someone in Soul Society is going against us; we have to inform taichou" He said standing up.

"What's all the fuss about, so early in the morning?" A voice asked. Everyone turned to the source of the voice.

"Fukutaichou" A few members murmured. Aizen caught sight of the murdered 3rd seat; his expression barely changing. He walked towards the body and started to ask the 4th Division members.

"All of you, back to HQ. We'll talk about this incident later" Aizen ordered everyone. Slowly, but surely, everyone dispersed. "Ah, just a moment Tatsuya" He called Tatsuya back; Yuudai and Jiro stayed behind too. "Do you know what happened?" He asked him.

Tatsuya gave him a steady stare… something seemed off to him. "Not really. From his wounds all I can say is that he's been dead for a few days and those wounds were made by a zanpakutou" He explained.

"Alright, anyways, let me and Hirako-taichou to deal with this. You three head back, we'll report to all of you later today" He assured them and accompanied the dead body to 4th Division for an autopsy report.

---

"Ah, taichou, you got the report right?" Jiro asked, completely ignoring Yuudai and his wrath.

"Yeah…" Shinji sighed. "He was killed by a blade all right" Shinji confirmed part of Tatsuya's belief. "But we don't know who did it" Shinji sighed disappointed. "Anyways, just keep an eye on things for a while. Sooner or later, they'll be caught" He assured his division members. "Now I have to find that smartass Aizen…" He grumbled as he walked out of the room.

---

"Uwa… murder, that's harsh" Urahara commented as the three shinigami sat around the lab, watching Urahara's movements. They had been showing up more and more in 12th Division as they trusted Urahara more now. "Must be havoc in your division huh?" He asked, pouring them some tea.

"I guess…" Yuudai responded tiredly. "Taichou hasn't been around much lately, so we're not sure if there is anything to worry about" He continued on, earning Urahara's attention.

"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen him lately either… same with your lieutenant… but he doesn't come around here often…" Urahara told them.

"Lucky you" Jiro sneered. "Aizen is a pain in the ass…" He grumbled, taking a sip of his tea. "He's always sneaking around, scaring the crap out of all of us. Spying on us, and then telling us off to Taichou whenever we slack off." He went on.

"Is he really that kind of person?" Urahara asked. "You wouldn't expect that when you first meet him"

"But once you get to know him…" Yuudai pointed out. Urahara agreed, nodding his head slightly.

"He was spying on my talk with your captain when I was first appointed captain" He brought up the subject. "He was using kidou to conceal his presence. If it wasn't for Shinji, I don't think I would've noticed he was there the whole time."

"…Kidou…" Tatsuya sighed.

"So that's how he's doing it…" Jiro groaned.

"Since you guys are here, do you think you guys can help me out on my research?" Urahara asked, hoping that they'd agree. The three looked at each other, not expecting that kind of request. Seeing as they had nothing else to do they agreed. "You guys know where the library is right?" He asked them. Jiro and Tatsuya responded with blank faces.

"There was a library here?" Jiro asked surprised. Urahara sighed disappointed.

"Don't worry, I know where it is" Yuudai spoke up, surprising all the others. Urahara breathed a sigh of relief… at least there was someone he could rely on.

"Good, just get me these books" He handed him a short list. Once Yuudai left, all three of them wondered how Yuudai was the only one that knew where the library was.

"Does he go there often?" Urahara asked curious.

"I dunno… he hates reading more than anyone else." Tatsuya shrugged.

"Probably goes there to find a way to grow taller" Jiro sniggered.

"He'll shoot you if he hears you say that you know" Tatsuya warned his friend.

---

"What's his deal with hollows?" Yuudai scratched his head as he scanned the towering bookshelves for the books Urahara wanted. Strangely enough, they all related to hollows. Since Yuudai never went to the library to learn about hollows, he didn't have a clue as to where the books would be located. Luckily, he was smart enough to find someone who knew where they were. As he walked through, he bumped into someone which knocked some things out of that person's hands. "Ah, sorry about that" He said and started to help them clean up. "…fukutaichou?" Yuudai asked confused. Aizen had been hanging out at the library for the past few days? No wonder Shinji couldn't find him.

"Ah, looks like you found me" Aizen smiled as he picked up his things.

"Taichou's been looking for you for the last few days you know. Maybe you should show up once in a while" Yuudai suggested.

"I better find him then" Aizen said as he stood up. "I'll see you later then" He waved as he left.

"What a weirdo" Yuudai shook his head in disbelief as he turned to search for the books. He realized that Aizen had left a sheet of paper behind. "Ai--!" Aizen had already left. "What was he doing anyways?" Yuudai wondered as he picked up the sheet and read what was written on it. His eyes widened as he read it; he quickly folded it up and put it in his uniform. He quickly found the books and rushed back to Urahara's.

---

"Look who's back!" Jiro 'cheered' as Yuudai entered the room out of breath and pale in the face. Urahara noticed this as he received his books.

"What's wrong?" Urahara wondered.

"I met Aizen" He huffed out as he collapsed on a chair.

"…Aizen was looking for books on milk?" Jiro asked not realizing what he had just said.

"Zip it!" Tatsuya jabbed Jiro in the gut, shutting him up. Yuudai pulled out the sheet of paper from his uniform and placed it on the table in front of them.

"What's that?" Jiro asked picking up the piece of paper. "It better not be a solution to make you taller!"

"Jiro… shut up." Tatsuya scolded him.

"What is this!?" Jiro exclaimed shocked.

"What?" Tatsuya asked as he snatched it out of Jiro's hands.

"Aizen was looking up this?" Jiro asked appalled. Yuudai simply nodded.

"Well… I think he was, otherwise why would he have it?" Yuudai wondered out loud. Urahara was confused and felt left out on the huzzah. He walked over to Tatsuya and took a look at it. Tatsuya's hand was trembling slightly as he started to grasp it harder, crumpling it up slightly.

"Why is he doing this now?" He wondered as he glared at the piece of paper.

"It happened over 5000 years ago right?" Urahara asked, having some knowledge in it.

"Yeah… everyone should've forgotten about it by now…" Yuudai told him.

"What is Aizen doing?"

* * *

_Sorry for the unexpected long update... the next one will either be out within next week or the week after cuz I'll be without a computer for the next week (NO!!) but yes, I do not want to delay this story any longer and end it as fast as I possibly can._

_Thanks for staying with me thus far! (I can't believe I used the word 'thus'...)_


	16. Turn Back the Pendulum 2

_(Gasp!) It's a miracle!! (I guess I lied in my last message... but I don't think I can pull out anymore miracles right now...) Sorry if it seems a little 'too serious' for my type of writing but it'll be over soon... oh and btw, if you're curious on my progress with the story, I'll be putting updates on my profile page... now on with the story!

* * *

_**Tori's Family**

Shinboku Yuudai: Father; 5th division 6th seat

Shinboku Keiko: Mother; Geisha (a singer)

**Rina's Family**

Tsukiyomi Tatsuya: 5th division 4th seat

Tsukiyomi Saki: Mother

**Mika's Family**

Kurai Jiro: Father; 5th division 5th seat

Kurai Aiko: Mother; Artist

* * *

_[Kurai Isamu – charged with multiple counts of murder and treason; utilized zanpakutou's ability to manipulate water to kill off many shinigami at one time from the inside-out; executed]_

_[Shinboku Daichi – treason, multiple counts of murder and theft; used zanpakutou's ability to manipulate the wind for intentions of murder; executed]_

_[Tsukiyomi Hiroshi – arson, treason, multiple counts of murder; utilized zanpakutou's ability to manipulate fire; executed] _

"Oi, Yuudai! Quit reading that over and over again!!!" Jiro yelled out at Yuudai trying to grab the piece of paper out of the man's hands.

"Let me torch it already! We can't let that out into the public!!" Tatsuya joined in attempting to at least tear the sheet into pieces so no one could read the full contents.

"No, just wait a minute!!" Yuudai protested. "I'm trying to figure out what my ancestor stole!"

"Yuu-chan, this happened over **5000 years ago**!!" Jiro pointed out. "Whatever he stole must've been taken back or lost a _long_ time ago" He tried to reason with Yuudai.

"So what if it happened over 5000 years ago! The point is, I could have stolen property in my house!!" He yelled out.

"Yuudai, you _HAVE_ stolen property in your house" Tatsuya spoke up, shocking Yuudai completely.

"What?" Yuudai gasped in shock.

"You know how you have that one wooden chopstick in your house when you guys use the non-wooden ones?" Jiro asked him; Yuudai nodded. "That's 'cause you _**stole**_ that when you were this big!" He told him, raising his hand up to half of Yuudai's body.

"… That would explain why it wasn't in a pair…" Yuudai realized. Tatsuya tried to take the paper out of Yuudai's hands still… but ultimately failed each time.

"And you know that Joker card with the rabbit on it?" Tatsuya asked him. "You _**stole**_ that too!"

"You don't even play cards, why did you steal that of all things?" Jiro asked.

"Like I know!!"

"Um…" The three shinigami looked over to Urahara who was watching the whole thing. "Shouldn't you just let the past go and pretend you never saw this in the first place?" He suggested. "Besides, if everyone has forgotten about it then no one would use it against you anymore right?"

"That's… true…" The three agreed as they stopped fighting over a piece of paper. Yuudai let it go and Tatsuya torched it with his zanpakutou. It lay in ashes on the table; all four men stared at it for a while until Jiro brushed it off onto the floor.

"What are you doing!?" Urahara yelled out pointing at the ashes on the floor.

"Cleaning off the table" Jiro spoke of the obvious.

"Couldn't you have put it in the garbage… at least?" Urahara moped. "Or throw it out into the wind, or throw it into the ocean?" He asked.

"Urahara-taichou, relax. It was a piece of paper." Yuudai pointed out.

"Yeah, but… still--!!!" He protested, but it was pointless as the three walked out to return to their division.

---

"Hollows in Rukongai's District 34, huh?" Jiro grinned slightly as he hadn't fought in a long, long time.

"Looks like someone's happy" Yuudai remarked, as they and a bunch more of their members followed their lieutenant to District 34. The three of them decided to pretend as if they had never seen that piece of paper and acted normally around their lieutenant. Given that he was almost never around as of late, it was pretty easy.

"Let's hope your skills haven't gotten rusty Jiro" Tatsuya said as they neared the District, sensing no hollows.

"…It _is_ District 34… right?" One member asked, scanning the area, not getting any signs of hollow activity.

"Should be…" Another responded. A few minutes passed and they got nothing. Jiro was getting impatient and Yuudai was getting thirsty for milk.

"It's all yours Jiro" Tatsuya suddenly spoke out, looking off into the distance.

"Huh?" Jiro was confused by the sudden break in silence.

"10:00." Tatsuya looked off into the direction he was talking about. Jiro finally understood what Tatsuya was talking about.

"Finally!!" He yelled out enthralled. He pulled out his zanpakutou, waiting for it to appear; and without fail, it did. "Barike-do, Bakufu!" He shouted out, releasing it into Shikai. He ran up and killed it instantly. "That was way… too easy for all of us to have been called out to deal with this…" He muttered to himself, wondering why it was so easy. And then he got his answer; in a matter of seconds, more and more hollows showed up. "Uh… a little help here guys!?" He requested some help from his friends.

"Kiritsukeru, Hitofuki!" Yuudai yelled out and sent massive gusts of wind slamming into the army of hollows. The wind was powerful enough to slice through them.

"Hibana, Hanabi!!" Black flames engulfed a couple of hollows, killing them but more replacements for them appeared. After a long, tiresome battle, they eventually hacked every hollow down except for one. All of the members stared up at the oversized hollow.

"You're kidding me" Jiro huffed out-of-breath. Suddenly the hollow knocked all of their zanpakutous out of their hands and lunged for them without giving them time to defend themselves. It looked like, to Jiro at least, that they were going to die so he blurted out something. "YUUDAI _**I**_ WAS THE ONE WHO DRANK ALL YOUR MILK, NOT TAICHOU OR TATSUYA!!!!"

"WHAT!??" Yuudai yelled out angrily.

"Huh?" Jiro looked up to see no hollow in sight. "What happened?" He asked clueless.

"Aizen saved us, that's what." Tatsuya explained, pointing at Aizen just a few steps away from them. His sword was drawn but it wasn't in Shikai like everyone else's. It looked just like a normal katana, nothing special.

"Damn he's strong" Jiro commented. "Wait a minute… if he could do that to one hollow, why didn't he help us out!?" He hollered out quite peeved.

"More importantly!" Yuudai spoke up. "_**YOU**_ stole my milk!? I could have been _**SO**_ much taller now!!" He yelled out shaking his fists at Jiro.

"You can't grow anymore! I was doing you a favor by saving you from disappointment!!" Jiro tried to save himself from Yuudai's fury.

"Psh. Excuses!" He accused Jiro, pointing his finger at him. The two shinigami started to tear each other apart, limb by limb while Tatsuya watched with the others on the sidelines; occasionally yelling out bets on who would win.

"Um…" Aizen spoke up, completely isolated from everyone else. "I think you should retrieve your zanpakutous" He said pointing to all the zanpakutous sprawled out on the ground as he sheathed his own weapon. The fight stopped as everyone returned to their senses and started to grab their weapons.

"Don't worry, I'll get your guys'" One teammate said to Yuudai.

"Wait, no don't!!" He shouted out, but a bit too late. As that one member picked up Yuudai's Hitofuki, a strong gust of wind spawned and started creating slicing winds. "DROP IT DROP IT!" He yelled out. The terrified member did so and ran far away from it – he was lucky he wasn't hurt, physically.

"What the--?" A bunch of members wondered in confusion, fear, and for some, in awe.

"They have issues" Jiro explained sheathing his own sword.

"Stubborn, cranky, and probably suffer from OCD" Tatsuya sighed as he picked up his sword and eyed it before sheathing it.

"Sounds like you three" Aizen muttered silently to himself. "Come on, let's go back!" He yelled out… probably for the first time in his life.

---

The three men were back in Seireitei, lounging around in their HQ like normal. The whole 'murder list' was still on their minds but they tried to keep it under wraps as best they could. Whenever Aizen would show up they'd eye him suspiciously but immediately distract themselves on something else when Aizen noticed this.

"Pst… Yuu…" Jiro whispered over to Yuudai who was lying on the couch, staring off to space.

"What?" He responded in a normal voice which attracted everyone's attention all the sudden.

"Where the f-ck is the library?" He asked. Yuudai raised an eyebrow at his friend in confusion.

"Why?" He asked in an "I don't give a crap about your problems" tone of voice.

"Cuz--!" Jiro scooted over to Yuudai's side and whispered in his ear like a schoolgirl. "We might be able to find things about that list that Aizen had!" He whispered his bright idea to his friend.

"…it's the building that says "LIBRARY" on it" Yuudai told him, stifling a yawn.

"Gee… that's helpful" Jiro sneered disappointed his friend couldn't give him any _useful_ information. "Oi, Tacchan!!" He suddenly hollered out, scaring the man from his half-awake experience. "We're going to the library!" He declared, grabbed Tatsuya's arm and dragged him out.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" He yelled in protest trying to pry himself out of Jiro's grip. "Words hurt my brain, spare me!!!!"

**[****At the library****]**

"Sh-t it's huge!!" Jiro and Tatsuya stared up in awe at the gigantic, unknown, mysterious building.

"I'm leaving" Tatsuya said abruptly and started to walk away but Jiro wouldn't let him.

"C'mon! This is our mission!!" He tried to persuade his friend.

"What part of finding out about our ancestors is a mission?" Tatsuya asked, wrenching his arm away from Jiro successfully. Jiro just blinked at him dumbfounded – he hadn't thought of what to do after to be honest.

"Just go!" He ordered his friend and pointed to the entrance of the building.

"Fine, but it's your responsibility if I suffer major brain damage!" Tatsuya yelled out grumpily, trudging up the steps to the library.

"It can't get more damaged than it already is!!" Jiro yelled out in response, earning the cold shoulder from his buddy.

---

"History… Literature… Science… Technology… Art……wait, art!?" Both men stared at the sign that said art that was pinned up on the aisle supposedly containing books on art.

"Since when does art need words?" Jiro asked Tatsuya dumbfounded.

"Sh-t like I know, I thought it was only pictures!" Tatsuya responded wide-eyed at the sudden discovery. "Shouldn't your wife know about these things?" Jiro asked.

"Maybe… but I doubt she'd read all these!!" Jiro pointed out waving his hands crazily at the vast collection of books. "… wait a minute… couldn't these all be picture books?" Jiro asked his jaw dropped at this epiphany.

"Get real" Tatsuya whacked Jiro on the head. "This is Seireitei; only words and smart people exist in a library!" Tatsuya said and walked off in another direction.

A few minutes later, these two men got lost and were freaking out silently. They were running through aisles, traumatized by the big words they discovered and swore that someone was hiding at the very back of the library where it seemed to be darker.

"Jiro this is your fault!!" Tatsuya hissed at his friend as he looked in all directions for a possible exit.

"Shut up, all I wanted to do was find out what happened and this is wh—hey I found the milk section!" Jiro pointed out a few books that were on the topic of dairy products. "How to Make Homemade Cheese…" Jiro read the title of a book. He stared at it for a moment seemingly thinking of something while Tatsuya walked off to oblivion. "I'm so taking this!" He grabbed the book and turned around expecting to see Tatsuya but he was gone! "Tacchan?" He looked around only hearing the echo of his voice. "Tacchan? Wanna make cheese? Oi, where the hell did you go!?" He started to panic and walked around glancing in every direction in hopes of seeing his friend that had disappeared.

"Oi Jiro!" Tatsuya suddenly yelled out as Jiro walked past the aisle he was in. Jiro turned to see his friend with a librarian. "Whaddya know? There's 'experts' on libraries!!" Tatsuya exclaimed as Jiro walked slowly towards them. Jiro looked at the girl who was the "expert".

"How do we get out?" He asked her.

**[Checkout Desk]**

Jiro and Tatsuya successfully found their way out of the maze of books with the help of the librarian. They were now at the checkout desk, though they did not understand why.

"Okay, do you have a library card?" She asked them as she took the book into her hands.

"Ha?" The two looked at her in confusion. Libraries had cards?

"Wait… wha… c-cards?" Jiro asked bewildered. "We need cards!?" The librarian nodded looking slightly confused as she thought everyone knew you needed a card to check things out. Jiro sighed and silently agreed.

"Okay, name please?" She asked him.

"Kurai Jiro"

"Address?" Both Jiro and Tatsuya looked at her with eyebrows raised.

"What?"

"Your address, this is so we can contact you if we need to" She explained.

"Don't do it Jiro, it's a trap! Nothing ever comes good out of getting cards and giving away your address!" Tatsuya warned him.

"This is necessary sir, just so that we can contact you if your books are overdue or if you need to pay major fines"

"FINES!?" Jiro yelled out, scaring just about everybody in the library. "Oh no, you're not gonna trick me! Only my wife and daughter can!!" He shouted out pointing his finger accusingly at her. She tried to protest but only Jiro's loud booming voice could be heard.

"Jiro, _Deal or No Deal_?" Tatsuya asked, getting riled up from this.

"NO DEAL!" He yelled out and walked out of the library proudly with Tatsuya following. Once they left the library which they swore to never enter again, they realized something.

"… we didn't…" Tatsuya started.

"… yeah…" Jiro muttered.

They had gone to the library for nothing.

---

"Two more huh?" Urahara muttered learning that two more shinigami had been murdered in the past week. "Oi, Yoruichi, how come you can't find the guy yet?" Urahara asked looking behind him to see Yoruichi lounging around in his office, obviously skipping work. "And why are you here anyways? Soifon is gonna scold you again" He told her off.

"Shut it Kisuke!" Yoruichi snapped stifling a yawn. "And we ARE doing are best to find the culprit. Whoever he or she is, they know what they are doing." She explained. "So how are you coping with your new position… and her…?" She asked pointing at a steaming Hiyori, muttering nonsense in a corner.

"Ah… yeah… it's okay I guess" He answered scratching his head.

"Oi, Urahara!" A voice shouted out from outside his office. The door slammed open revealing Yuudai with a piece of paper scrunched up in his hand. "Tell me what this means" He said, handing over the piece of paper to Urahara.

"OI!" Yoruichi yelled out in an annoyed tone of voice. Yuudai looked over at her. "Whaddabout me huh?" She asked pointing at herself, annoyed that she was ignored.

"Oh… hey Yoruichi" He nodded towards her as he shifted his focus back on Urahara. Yoruichi was pissed but kept silent.

"Where'd you get this?" Urahara asked him.

"Oh that was something I found on Aizen's desk. I thought it was weird so I thought you could figure this out" He explained.

"You couldn't ask Shinji?" Yoruichi asked trying not to be left out.

"He's never around… nor reliable… or smart… or a good drinker…" Yuudai kept naming all of Shinji's weak points as Urahara tried to decode what Aizen had written.

"This is…" Urahara started off, capturing the two's attention. "What is this?" He asked confused, disappointing the two of them.

"Ah forget it, I'll find someone else!!" Yuudai yelled out in frustration.

"No, I'll tell you what it means later" Urahara protested, stuffing the sheet into his pockets.

"What?"

"Just go back, it'll be A-OK!" He assured him as he pushed him out the door with a smile.

"… What was that about…?" Yoruichi asked somewhat confused. "More importantly, who the hell does he think he is? Calling me by my first name with no honorifics or anything!!" She complained, irritated at Yuudai's manners.

"Hey Yoruichi, can you do me favor?"

"Huh?"

"Look out for Aizen for me will you?" He asked her.

"…Sure, but why?" Yoruichi asked.

"Just have a bad feeling about that guy…"

* * *

"'_Do books on art have words?'"_

"Yeah, Tacchan and I went to the library yesterday and we found two aisles of books that were labeled 'Art'. Art doesn't have words right?" Jiro asked Aiko, his wife on his cell phone during work hours.

"Is he still going on about that?" Yuudai asked Tatsuya as they both stared at Jiro in wonder.

"Looks like it." Tatsuya sighed.

"…_shouldn't you be working instead of talking to me right now?"_ Aiko asked him.

"Psh. Work, shwork. Stamping papers with an [APPROVE] or [DISAPPROVE] stamp doesn't benefit me." He scoffed glaring at a large mound of papers stacked up on his desk which needed his attention.

"_If you don't find it useful then why don't you quit and come back home? You said you didn't trust some people there didn't you?"_

"Yeah but… I can learn how to make cheese here!" He pointed out. "You don't do you?" He asked her proudly thinking that he had another skill that his wife doesn't.

"… _I think Saki does"_ Jiro's head shot up and glared at Tatsuya, slightly scaring the man. He lowered the phone from his ear and asked Tatsuya: "Your wife can make cheese?"

Tatsuya stared at him wondering why he was asking such a stupid question. "She can make many things Jiro. Stuff that even I don't know what it is"

"Okay, nevermind what I just said. Put Mika on the phone, I wanna talk to her!"

"What's up with him and cheese?" Yuudai asked spinning a pen with his fingers skillfully.

"Long story short, he found a book, wanted to make cheese but he couldn't – dreams crushed." Tatsuya summarized swiftly.

"OI YOU THREE GET TO WORK NOW!!" Shinji's loud voice rang out throughout the room as he stumbled in. "Geez, damn Aizen, where did he go this time?" He grumbled annoyed as he stared at a large stack of papers waiting for him. He grabbed a portion of it out from the top, scanned over it and immediately handed it to Yuudai.

"Why me!?" He protested.

"You're not doing anything are you?" Shinji stuck his chin out at him; grinning his toothy grin which totally pissed Yuudai off.

Just as Yuudai was going to get to work, Urahara barged in which consequently knocked Shinji into his mountain of documents (knocking both him and the documents onto the floor) and ran over to Yuudai.

"I figured it out" He said in a low hush to Yuudai. "Anyways, just keep a low profile for now and watch out for Aizen. I think he's trying to get you three out of Seireitei. I don't know the reasons but Yoruichi is keeping Aizen under constant watch. I'll keep you posted." Urahara explained as Yuudai nodded. The other two weren't really paying much attention towards Urahara's talk with Yuudai but they had a very uneasy feeling; like something was going to go horribly wrong.

---

**[Elsewhere…]**

Tanimura Mizuki, a new shinigami in 7th division wandered the corridors of her division, lost and confused. She didn't want to join but her older brother was involved and she didn't want to be left behind. She was now regretting it since she couldn't tell the differences in every room and corridor of her division. She turned a corner, not looking where she was going and smacked into someone knocking both of them down.

"Ah I'm so sorry!!" She squeaked out frightened, bowing her head down to the floor; her long dark red hair clouded her face, shielding her embarrassment.

"It's no big deal." A masculine voice said as she lifted her head. She had bumped into none other than Aizen Sosuke. She didn't really know him; only heard stories about him. He was picking up things that he had dropped when Mizuki had bumped into him.

"AH I'm so, so, so sorry! Let me help you!" She offered gathering up his things. She handed them to him and bowed deeply as he left. First day on the job and she possibly created a bad image for herself; in front of a lieutenant no less! She heaved a deep sigh and continued to search when she noticed that Aizen had dropped something behind. It was a small piece of paper that had some writing on it. "You forgo—" He was already gone. "I guess I'll give this to him later…" She muttered taking a look at it. Her eyes widened and an eerie chill surrounded her. She had to let her brother see it; she couldn't keep this all to herself. And with that, she ran off to Division 3 where her brother was.

Not far from where Mizuki once was, a figure silently walked away – a smirk painted on his face.

---

**[A few days later…]**

"Eh… how should I start this?" Shinji wondered, scratching his head as he had gathered his division up for a meeting. Shinji had little experience it this sort of thing as he had always left it to Aizen. But for some reason he had been absent for almost a week now.

"Just say what's on your mind!" Yuudai shouted out, earning a whack from both Jiro and Tatsuya.

"Ahem…" Shinji cleared his throat and grabbed the piece of paper that had all the information that he needed. "Regarding the recent murders" He started off capturing everyone's attention. "Uh… the autopsy has revealed that the cause of death was not only by multiple stab wounds."

"I thought it was one stab!" Yuudai piped up, raising his hand. Once again both his friends whacked him hard on the head. "OW, what was that for!?" He grumbled angrily towards the two – for some reason, possibly by chance he was standing in between them; a very bad thing for him.

"Continuing on… in some victims, water was found in the lungs resulting in death caused by drowning, burn wounds, and trauma to the brain." He managed to fulfill one of the tasks on the list. "The assassin has not yet been caught but is believed to be among us. If anyone knows anything tell us!"

"We're not elementary kids anymore y'know!" Yuudai scoffed, earning another two hard whacks to the head. "OI, you're gonna make me shorter at this rate!!" He shouted out grabbing Tatsuya's neck and shook him furiously.

"Agh, let go you moron!" Tatsuya sputtered out, his hands trying to pry Yuudai's hands off his neck. Jiro had no choice but to help him.

"OI YOU THREE DIPSH-TS!! I'M NOT DONE YET!! IT'S MY TURN!!" Shinji yelled out slamming his fists on his desk. The three amigos looked at him and slowly resumed back into their original standing positions. "F-ck where was I…?" He cursed trying to figure out where he was. "Oh yeah, next week is Golden Week so you guys can go back to your families if you want… but you **better** come back!!!" He emphasized the last part, knowing from experience that some people had 'forgotten' that they had to come back to work.

---

**[Division 3]**

"Oi Mizuki, where'd you get this?" Tanimura Takeru – affectionately known as Ta-Ta by his friends - asked his younger sister Mizuki after seeing a piece of paper she had given him. It was a list of crimes committed by three people that had distant relatives still working as shinigami.

"Um… I kinda bumped into Aizen-fukutaichou…" She said the last part silently as she stood pigeon-toed and pushed her forefingers together shyly. "And he left it behind, I was gonna give it back to him but…"

"…You sure?" Takeru asked her questioning if it really was his.

"I'm sure!" She nodded confidently.

"Hm…" He looked at the sheet again, trying to remember who the descendents were. He heard things about them – stupid things – but he didn't know them personally. "Okay, I got it. I'll tell my captain about this, you forget about it." He assured her as he started to leave. "Oh and…" He looked over his shoulder at his sister. "Don't tell anyone about it, it'll cause havoc for sure."

"O-Okay…"

---

The three amigos returned home during Golden Week. They had forgotten to call their families about them returning so instead of a "Welcome back!!" or "I missed you!!" all they got was "…Why are you here…?"

"Gee… thanks for nothing…" Tatsuya grumbled sipping on some sake in the kitchen as his wife rolled her eyes at his attitude.

"_Who_ forgot to call?" She asked him as she cleaned up the kitchen some more.

"We didn't forget! It was supposed to be a surprise!" He tried to cover up the fact that they had forgotten to do something which was nearly common sense to them. "Besides, it's my house; I don't care if it's clean or not! Messy equals comfort; clean equals clean freak!" He added on, hoping that there would be no more smartass remarks from his wife.

"You're sounding like a twelve year-old, grow up will you!?" She asked him as she threw a dishcloth at him which he dodged it quite swiftly which was pretty amazing as he had already drunk 2 bottles of sake non-stop. "So what's up with the sudden visit?"

---

"Can't I come home without a reason?" Jiro asked sprawled out on the ground on his back in the middle of the front entrance.

"Yeah… but do you really have to lie there?" His wife Aiko asked him with arms crossed across her chest, staring down at her husband.

"Is there a problem?" He asked her dumbfounded. She rolled her eyes at him as she started to walk away. "Oh yeah, you said that there were weird things going on in Seireitei, what are they? You never told me."

"Um…" Jiro scratched his nose as he sat up. "Bad things."

"…what exactly is a 'bad thing'? Having no beer in the fridge is considered a bad thing for you." She pointed out.

"There _is_ beer in there right?" He asked her suddenly wide awake.

"Don't change the subject!" She yelled out, causing him to shrink behind a rock.

"Ok, ok!" He held his hands up in surrender as he walked towards her. "You know what happened over 5000 years ago right?" He asked her. She stood there in deep thought for a while trying to remember anything that 'bad' that had happened over 5000 years ago. "You know, my great x100 or something like that grandfather, went cuckoo and blah!!?" He described the situation quite poorly.

"…no…" She answered frankly.

"Fine, let me draw it out for you" He offered as he grabbed a _Sharpie_ that was lying around and went to the walls.

"What are you…?"

Jiro drew his epic illustration of what he imagined to have happened over 5000 years ago. It was at a kindergartener's level but he was proud of his "artistic talent". He always claimed that it mimicked Picasso's works.

"Get it?" He asked her pointing at his masterpiece.

"All I see are scribbles on my walls!!" She screeched out.

"Don't worry; you have a _Mr. Clean Magic Eraser_ don't you? It'll come off!!" He assured his steaming mad wife. "So… get it?"

"Uh let's see…" She tried to analyze his drawings. "I'm guessing that's a guy… with a magical… Holy Cross…?"

"What the!?" Jiro looked back and forth between his wife and his drawing trying to wonder how she had seen that.

"…Ok I guess the Holy Cross is making… are those buildings or what? Whatever. It's drawing squiggly lines on those whatchamacallits. That's what I see." She concluded; Jiro was confused.

"How did you see _that_?" He asked her pointing at his masterpiece. "It was supposed to be my great granddaddy creating floods and crap all over Seireitei." He told her, his hand sliding off his face from confusion and a bit of disappointment.

"…Your great granddaddy has a leg that's shorter than the other?" She questioned analyzing the stick man wielding his zanpakutou (aka the Holy Cross).

"He's standing on an _angle_! Forget about that! But that was what it's all about!!" He practically shouted out.

"Geez, you could've told me instead of _ruining my walls_!!!" She yelled out pointing at his scribbles.

"You need more of _my_ art around here!" Jiro said folding his arms across his chest with a 'hmph!'.

"That's not art." She told him. "That's a bunch of random lines."

"It's _abstract_!" He pointed out.

While these two were yelling at each other, Mika toddled in wondering what the fuss was about. Her eyes drifted to her dad's mess of a masterpiece and figured she could do better. She wandered over to the same wall, whipped out a_ Sharpie_ and started doodling. Since she was still 10 years old, she was short… well at least not at eye level with her parents; so those two couldn't see her at all.

"Forget about my masterpieces for one second will ya?!" Jiro yelled out finally calling quits on their ridiculous argument. "What are we gonna do if the exact same thing happens again!?"

"Wouldn't it be your fault if it happens again?"

"I didn't do anything!!"

"Then why are you assuming something bad is gonna happen!?" Aiko yelled out clearly frustrated that this was the first thing that they were talking about since she last saw him.

"Fortune-telling lady said so!!"

"What?"

"Ok. I lied but still, Yuudai asked Urahara-taichou what our son-of-an-asshole fukutaichou was doing. So Urahara figured it out that Aizen was plotting something against us and is using our ancestors' sins to create a remake of everything that happened 5000 years ago!" He yelled out without taking a breath.

---

"If you're that concerned about it why don't you talk about it with your captain? Or the Captain-Commander?" Keiko asked her husband who was ordering a glass of milk every few minutes. Tori was sitting beside sipping on juice with a bendy straw. She was listening in on the whole thing but didn't quite understand any of it.

"Well… they're old!" Yuudai explained quite frankly. "They wouldn't understand would they? Besides it's more of a personal problem if anything else.

"So you're suggesting we take precautionary measures?" She asked him eyeing her daughter, knowing that Tori would get involved sooner or later.

"Mm. Better safe than sorry." Yuudai nodded. Keiko sighed; she didn't want anything like this to happen. And to have her own daughter get involved with it scared her.

"The other two are doing this as well right?" She asked just for confirmation.

"Yup, we don't want it to end like this after all." He nodded again staring off into space possibly thinking of something. He then turned his attention to Tori who was innocently sipping her juice, staring off into space just like her father was a few seconds ago. "So how's the anger management going?" He asked curious. He knew his daughter's temper all too well; he had fallen victim many times.

"It's okay I guess… although she wants to know more things now." Keiko said.

"Like what?"

"You know… like where do babies come from."

Yuudai eyed his daughter. The seemingly innocent girl asked very dangerous questions. "Tori, you're too young to learn of that kind of thing." He told her. Tori looked up at him.

"Why? I'm a big kid now, it's okay isn't it?' She asked him.

"No you're not, you're still _small_." The word 'small' echoed in Tori's brain, suddenly a demon was brought out.

"What did you say!?" She hollered out, her tiny hands grabbing tightly at her dad's shirt bringing him down at eye level with her.

"Wh-why…?!" He sputtered out trembling slightly. His daughter was probably stronger than him at this point.

"Tori let your stupid daddy go." Keiko requested. Tori immediately let go and resumed back to the innocent-juice sipping 10 year-old girl she was. Yuudai scooted back a few feet away from her. She was a ticking time bomb.

"I thought you said it was going well!!!" He hissed under his breath pointing at Tori.

"…It is. But you said the taboo word so that's not my fault, it's yours." She pointed out; Yuudai admitted defeat there and was silent for the rest of the day.

-----

**[A few days later...]**

"Okay, before we leave how about a group picture?" The three amigos asked in front of their families who had all gathered together to say their farewells before those three left.

"Ehh…?" Everyone grumbled and groaned and shifted slightly hoping that they could escape without being noticed.

"Hey, this is a once in a lifetime chance! It's now or never!!" Yuudai stamped his foot on the ground trying to prove a point.

"I choose never!!" Mika and Tori yelled out, their right hands shooting up into the air. Their sleeves slid down their arms revealing their bandaged up arms.

"I thought we were gonna see _Ultraman_!" Rina whined her bandaged right hand tugging at her mom's leg.

"I never heard that!" Tatsuya said wide-eyed looking around him.

"_Ultraman_ isn't coming! Okay everyone get together I'm taking it!!" Yuudai and Jiro yelled out prepping the camera.

"He's not!?" Rina exclaimed in surprise. "Uwah!!" She started to bawl her eyes out at the breaking news.

"Tatsuya!!" Saki yelled out as she tried to comfort her daughter.

"Why me? I didn't do it. These two morons did it!!" He yelled out in desperation. "You sadistic bastards! What was that for?!" He turned to his two buddies who were smirking and not even hiding the fact that they were slightly enjoying it.

"Well we didn't really believe that she would start tearing up from all those things you told us." Yuudai shrugged.

"You're calling me a liar!? Hey, I get blamed for this kind of crap okay!? Spare me and her will ya!?"

"Okay, cheese!!" They took the picture when no one was ready but the two of them deemed it as a perfect photo. Jiro said it captured their families' real side; Yuudai said it was the most interesting photo he'd ever took and Tatsuya, he tried to murder the two along their way back to Seireitei.

---

"We're back!!" Yuudai slammed the door to their HQ wide open. The noise was loud enough to wake up a sleeping Shinji lying on the couch. He rolled off the couch surprised and confused.

"Wha--?" He rubbed his eyes and blinked a couple of times before looking at the three. He rubbed his eyes and blinked again to confirm he wasn't seeing things. "Why are you guys here?" He asked them.

"Again!?" All three scoffed in disgust. It was as if no one wanted them around. Shinji looked at a calendar and then back at the three.

"You guys are early!" Shinji exclaimed standing up.

"What?"

"Yeah, you guys are here one day early. It's amazing, and I thought you three would've been skipping out for at least another week!" Shinji was somewhat grateful that the three had returned so fast.

"Sh-t!!" The three cursed at their mistake.


	17. Turn Back the Pendulum 3

_Last part to this 'arc'! It's a lot longer than I expected it to be... well that happens when you use the manga as a basis so yeah

* * *

_

**Tori's Family**

Shinboku Yuudai: Father; 5th division 6th seat

Shinboku Keiko: Mother; Geisha (a singer)

**Rina's Family**

Tsukiyomi Tatsuya: 5th division 4th seat

Tsukiyomi Saki: Mother

**Mika's Family**

Kurai Jiro: Father; 5th division 5th seat

Kurai Aiko: Mother; Artist

* * *

"I'm serious, I'm sure it was them!"

"Are you sure you weren't drinking too much?"

"Yeah, seriously, do you really think those three could've pulled it off?"

"Yeah, I mean they made a "Jackass: Soul Society Version" for their graduation project!"

"I remember that! Didn't they pass though?"

"Hey guys I'm serious!!"

A bunch of shinigami were discussing about something that had been quite spread around for sometime since Golden Week. It had been kept quiet so many didn't even know what it was about. The one thing that most had realized was that something had changed in Seireitei. It didn't feel like it was the same as it was a few weeks ago. The recent murders had been at a halt since the last one right before Golden Week. There were no suspects and there was no motive to be found.

"I swear on my life and on the All-You-Can-Eat-Buffet Restaurant down the street, that I saw them killing him!" The one shinigami that supposedly witnessed a murder, tried to tell his friends.

"But it was dark wasn't it? Maybe you made a mistake?" A girl asked him doubting his story.

"I saw fire and water and felt the wind going crazy!!"

"He's out of his mind" One left the group, deciding not to hang around any longer.

"I'm serious!!" He tried to draw the attention back to him but to no avail. People found the story unbelievable.

"It was Golden Week you know, everybody left. It wasn't like they were trying to escape from suspicion." One girl told him, giving him a doubtful look. "Besides, all you have to do is hang around them and then you'll know that they can't be the ones!"

---

"Hey, don't you think the atmosphere here has changed?" Tatsuya asked Jiro as they both watched Yuudai sparring against a new addition to their Division in the courtyards, leaning against a stone wall, hiding in the shade.

"Whaddya mean?" Jiro asked as he followed each fighter's movements carefully. The newcomer was pretty good despite his age and looks.

"I mean, don't you get the feeling that someone is watching us? And also, whenever we're out in the hallways or wherever, some people give us weird looks." Tatsuya told him as he shifted his head to the right, nearly getting hit by a rock that was carelessly kicked over to them.

"Hmm… maybe people are finally realizing our awesomeness!" Jiro thought out loud enthusiastically.

"Ikorose, Shinsou" A blade suddenly extended at frightening speed. Yuudai dodged it swiftly but standing behind him were his two buddies.

"Whoa!" Jiro and Tatsuya dodged to the side staring at the blade that had crashed into the wall between them, slowly return back to its original form.

"Oi, I said no shikai release!!" Yuudai yelled out pointing his zanpakutou at the kid.

"Sorry, couldn't help it." The silver-haired kid responded and shrugged it off. Yuudai grunted peeved at the kid's attitude. Sure he was a lot younger and probably didn't know better but if he couldn't follow that rule, what else could happen? "Okay, let's do this again; and **_no_** shikai!"

"Gotcha'" He replied and they started their fight once again.

"Hey." Jiro nudged Tatsuya in the rib. "What's that kid's name again?"

"Ichimaru Gin." Tatsuya responded promptly. "Graduated in one year and already had a seat waiting for him in our division. He's a frickin' prodigy."

"Heh…" Jiro looked at the kid fighting like it was nothing. It was obvious that he would end up at a top position someday from his fighting style. "Isn't he around Byakuya-kun's age?" Jiro asked causing Tatsuya to glare at him. Ever since that day, "Byakuya" had been like a taboo word to him.

"And what if he is?" Tatsuya asked his teeth grinding together.

"Kinda' scary don'tcha think?" Jiro asked stretching out his arms and gave into a yawn. "Two kids already at a high level when it comes to being a shinigami. Sooner or later captains and lieutenants are gonna be run by kids."

"You have a strange imagination Jiro." Tatsuya sighed. He had a nagging feeling that something wasn't right but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Oh and speaking of Byakuya, Kuchiki-taichou talked with me the other day." Jiro continued on the subject, much to Tatsuya's displeasure. "He heard about you trying to beat up his grandkid."

"And?" Tatsuya asked uninterested.

"He said that it was pretty funny. No one had ever tried that before so it was a 'good experience' for him." Jiro told him. Tatsuya just stood in silence staring off into space.

"He isn't by any chance…" Tatsuya started off, not even looking at his friend. "He's not a sadistic bastard like you two is he?" He asked Jiro, now facing him.

"Buddy, if I said yes, I'd have my head chopped off." Jiro told him cautiously. He looked around to make sure that no one else was around besides them. "But I think yes." He whispered very cautiously towards him.

"I'ma gonna tell him you said that!" A voice sang out from above them.

"What?!" The two looked above to see Yoruichi jump down and land in front of them.

"Yo!" She greeted them casually with a slight smirk on her face. "Heard a lot of noise and wanted to know what was going on." She explained looking behind her to see the fight. "Didn't expect this though. Are you guys bullying little kids by chance?" She asked them facing them again.

"Ha!?" Both men replied oh-so-majestically.

"First Byakuya, now this kid…" Yoruichi counted off on her fingers. "Who's next? Oh let me guess…" She started to think of all the kids in Seireitei that were enlisted as shinigami.

"Are there any other kids around here?" Tatsuya asked Jiro as Yoruichi continued to ponder.

"I dunno but if there is, it's my turn!" Jiro pointed at himself confidently as Tatsuya whacked him on the head.

"You are, without a doubt, a sadistic bastard!" Tatsuya hissed at him. Jiro took it as a compliment and held his head up high.

"Yoruichi-sama!" A younger version of Soifon suddenly appeared in front of the three. "You still have work to do!" She scolded her Captain.

"There's a kid." Tatsuya pointed out to Jiro. Jiro cracked his knuckles and prepared himself as Soifon was still scolding Yoruichi.

"Hiyah!!!" He yelled out, karate-chopping Soifon. "Ahhhh!!!! STOP STOP STOP!!! I give!!! Let go already!!" He screamed out a few seconds later as Soifon had him in a head lock with his right arm twisted backwards.

"Soifon let the idiot go." Yoruichi ordered.

"Hai." She instantly dropped Jiro on the ground, writhing in pain. Jiro looked back at Soifon in fear and then at Tatsuya who was also wide-eyed in shock.

"What's wrong with this world!?" Jiro yelled out standing up, backing away from Soifon cautiously.

"You started it, you only have yourself to blame." Yoruichi pointed out as she ignored Soifon's concerns.

"It's okay Jiro." Tatsuya patted him on the back. "There's still Hiyori."

"Hiyori…?" Jiro's eyes had a new glint to them as Hiyori's name echoed through his ears. "I'ma kill her!" He said punching his hand, all fired up. Just as he was about to leave, Shinji's foot kicked him in the face back into the division.

"Where'dya think yer going?" Shinji asked peering down at Jiro who now had a red footprint on his face, sprawled out on the ground. He sat up instantly dazed and confused. "You can't go out and beat up anyone you want ya know" Shinji told him as he stood up and straight and scratched his head. His eyes later drifted over to Yuudai and Gin, whose match had ended. Both of them were staring at the loud commotion Jiro was creating. "Uh… Gin right?" He asked Gin as he approached him. He bent down to eye level to him – people swore they heard his bones cracking.

"Yup." Gin replied with his smile.

"Whatcha think of our division?" Shinji asked with a cheesy grin.

"He's short." Gin pointed at Yuudai who was now ready to kill him.

"What'd you say you little turd!?" Yuudai asked as he ran over to Gin at high speed. Yoruichi instantly intervened and kicked him to side causing him to roll uncontrollably to the stone wall on the other side of the courtyard.

"Grow up will ya!?" Yoruichi yelled out at Yuudai who was confused, angry and dizzy. "You should know better!!"

"Yeah! It was my turn!" Jiro yelled out at Yuudai.

"SHUDDUP WILL YA!?" Shinji yelled out at the two, causing the two to be blown back by Shinji's anger. "Oi, Tsukuyomi!" Shinji called out to Tatsuya.

"It's Tsu**KI**yomi!!" He corrected him. "The kanji may be the same but we pronounce it differently!!" He yelled out at Shinji who had to take a step back and blink his eyes a few times before snapping back to reality.

"Are you sure you just can't read kanji?" Shinji asked him calmly.

"No… we're not the Moon Gods." Tatsuya stated flatly. "And even if we were I wouldn't be working for a moron like you!"

"Psh. Say what you want!" Shinji forgot about Tatsuya for a second as he turned his attention back to Gin. Tatsuya was ready to strangle Shinji but since he was a captain after all, there would be consequences… well unless if he was planning to become the next captain then there wasn't much of a problem. Meanwhile, Yoruichi was watching 5th Division's "Anger Management Therapy" and was speechless.

"Let's go Soifon. Don't wanna get the 'idiot virus'." Yoruichi said as she leaped up and over the wall with Soifon following behind her. "OH YEAH!" Yoruichi yelled out from the other side of the wall. "Kisuke wants to talk to ya three!!" She informed them before she shunpoed away.

"What? Why are you guys so important now?" Shinji asked the three that were slowly recovering from their anger spells.

"Someone finally realized our awesomeness!" Jiro responded with a grin.

---

"You rang?" The three men asked Urahara as he was busy mixing things together for his experiments in his lab. For the last 10 minutes Urahara had been concocting something that was unknown. It was a solo project and he hadn't spoken a word let alone tell them what he was doing.

"Oi."

Urahara walked to the back of the room to grab something.

"Hello-oo!" Yuudai sang out trying to get Urahara's attention. He returned from the back of the room with a vial in his hands. He stared at it intensely and swirled it around a bit. He inhaled as he thought deeply; then shook his head in disapproval and went back to the back room.

"U-RA-HA-RA!" From the back room crashing could be heard, a low curse cut through the air. Urahara stumbled out muttering nonsense as he returned to his desk where the three amigos were sitting at. Jiro waved his hands in front of Urahara's eyes but still, no response.

"Yoruichi called!" Tatsuya attempted to grab the captain's attention. "She wants to know if you're free tonight!" He continued on with a sly smirk on his face as Urahara's dumbfounded eyes met his.

"What?" He asked, his hands nearly dropping his piece of work.

"Nuthin'" Tatsuya snorted with a grin as he took sudden interest on a dot on the wall. Urahara was still confused as he looked at the other two who were staring intensely at him.

"How can you stay focused on something for that long?" They asked in unison, pointing at his work. "And you called us here too!" They pointed at Urahara.

"Uh… yeah, just give me a sec…" He cleared his work area and properly sat down on a chair to talk to them. "So anything strange lately with Aizen?"

"Not really… he's doing normal stuff" Jiro shrugged not noticing anything out of line with Aizen's actions.

"Hmm…" Urahara rubbed his chin in doubt. "Yoruichi said the same thing… did I get it wrong?" He wondered out loud.

"By the way," Yuudai started off. "What are you working on anyways?" He pointed at Urahara's work.

"Oh, that's a gigai." He told them who were now confused.

"Gigai? We have those already." Tatsuya spoke up, wondering why Urahara was so intensely focused on something already done.

"This one's different." Urahara assured them as he stood up and walked over to it. "Wonder if it'll work though…" He muttered silently to himself. "Anywho-!" He jumped back to the topic he wanted to discuss about. "The murder cases seemed to have stopped but don't think we're not keeping this under wraps." He warned them as they nodded in unison. "And, for some reason, citizens in Rukongai have been disappearing so now we're investigating this. I expect that a division or two will be in charge of this so I have to warn you three." He paused staring deeply into the three's eyes showing that he wasn't joking around. "Keep your guard up. There's already suspicious rumors floating around about you three and you three definitely don't need that for your rep."

Tatsuya shifted in his seat slightly before speaking. "So you're saying don't do anything reckless that would make us more suspicious than what people are already thinking." Urahara only nodded in response.

"That means…" He pointed at Tatsuya. "No picking fights with Kuchiki-taichou's grandson." Tatsuya grumbled discontent with that order. "No yelling out death threats to Hiyori, even if she is a pain in the ass every now and then." He looked at Jiro.

Jiro snorted. "Every now and then? How about everyday!?" He yelled out slamming his fist on the table. Urahara glared at him causing the blond man to shut up and sit down.

"And you…" He looked at Yuudai who already knew what he was going to say.

"I know, I know…" Yuudai huffed out. "No spazzing when someone calls me: short, shrimp, chibi, puny, runt, midget, dwarf, gnome etc. etc." Yuudai mumbled out as Urahara nodded.

"And if worst comes to worst—"

"We've handled it" Jiro cut off Urahara in mid-sentence. "When we went back, we told our families and we prepared ourselves for it" Jiro told him.

"So that, if all else fails, _those three_ can have a chance to beat up Aizen." Tatsuya finished off Jiro's line.

"I see…" Urahara rubbed his stubbled chin as he glanced at all his hidden work lying around in the room. These inventions would come to use sooner or later.

---

"Why is it so… **quiet** in here?" Shinji wondered out loud as he looked up from his document-filled desk. For the last 5 minutes the three amigos hadn't spoken a word – a record-breaking time beating out their last record of 2.5 minutes.

"Focusing…" That was all Shinji was hearing from the three as they whispered it seemingly focusing on something.

"Focusing on what?" Shinji asked confused. He knew for a fact that 'focusing' equaled brain damage to these three. Suddenly Tatsuya's phone rang startling everyone in the quiet room. He picked it up and kept the conversation quiet to himself like any normal person would.

"WHAT!?" He suddenly shouted out causing everyone to sit back into their chairs as they looked bewildered at the now livid Tatsuya. His hands were balled up into fists, his knuckles white with pure fury. "Yeah?" He asked his voice clearly not pleased as he tried to hold back from yelling out anything "colorful".

"What's his deal?" Jiro asked fearfully to Yuudai as they cowered under the desk in fear of Tatsuya.

"Hell like I know!" Yuudai responded carefully peering over the desk to see Tatsuya freaking out in anger.

Tatsuya walked out from behind his desk, his free hand messing up his dark hair as he exited the room much to everyone's relief.

--

"You let _him_ in!?" Tatsuya roared bewildered. "Saki, what were you thinking!?" He yelled out into the phone receiver.

On the other end, his wife Saki had to hold the phone away from her ear a good foot away just so she wouldn't go deaf. _"What's wrong with it? They were nice-looking people plus they're shinigami too! They're your friends aren't they?"_ She asked not realizing what kind of 'rivalry' her husband had with the Kuchiki's. _"Besides, I think Rina likes them. She's not crying or anything." _Saki looked at her daughter who was happily eating onigiri with two people of high rankings at the kitchen table.

"GET THEM OUT **NOW**!!" Tatsuya yelled out scaring whoever was in the corridors he was walking in. "**WHY** are they in Rukongai anyways!? They're frickin rich; they don't need to mock us!"

_"They're not mocking us, they were training. Our wolves sniffed them out and thought they were enemies and attacked them. Luckily no one was hurt – it's only right for me to do this!"_ Saki voiced out her thoughts on her decision on letting the 6th Division Captain and his grandson into her household to her very, very angry husband.

"Saki, where is that kid?" He asked seemingly calming down as he stopped at the courtyards.

_"At the kitchen table, beside his grandfather, who are across Rina… why?"_

Tatsuya knew for a fact that that kitchen table was not very big nor wide, his eyes grew to the size of saucers as he heard this information. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! That kid cannot be within 1km radius of Rina, ya hear me!?"

"Oi, Tacchan shuddup already! You're scaring the oldies." Jiro pulled at Tatsuya's shoulder gaining his attention as he pointed to some random people walking past, staring at the scene.

"That kid is in my house!" He protested to a Jiro who didn't really care. "CENTIMETERS AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER!! **CENTIMETERS**!!" He stressed his points out clearly showing that he was way overprotective.

Jiro put his hand on Tatsuya's shoulder and looked him straight in the eye. "Breathe, okay? Breathe." Tatsuya did as told, not really relaxing at all. Yuudai walked to them knowing the whole story from Tatsuya's thundering voice that resonated through the division.

"Relax." Yuudai put his hand on Tatsuya's other free shoulder as the taller man looked down at him. "He's too young to know how to 'do it'." He assured him as Tatsuya's eyes popped out of his head.

"YUUDAI YOU LITTLE SH-T!" Jiro yelled out at the back of Yuudai who was sauntering away calmly with his hands behind his head. Jiro had to use both hands to hold Tatsuya back as he looked back and forth between the two in fear that one would be murdered. "GET BACK HERE YOU **TINY** MORON! YOU **SHRIMPY** COWARD OF A MAN! YOU STUPID **LITTLE**, **LITTLE**, **LITTLE** DIMWITTED **TATER TOT**!" Jiro yelled out in desperation, not noticing that he had stopped in his tracks once the word ' tiny' popped out of Jiro's mouth.

Sure, Yuudai could handle one little short _(no pun intended)_ statement from his friend, but consecutively? No. He slowly turned around, his eyes glinting with malice. He cracked his knuckles and neck as he faced the two men head-on.

"Whaddya call ME!?" He roared out charging full speed ahead at the two. Tatsuya was still infuriated and didn't give a damn about what Yuudai's intentions were. He only saw it as a battle and a chance for revenge after he said the unthinkable. However, Jiro was standing in between the two, not knowing what to do at all.

"YOU THREE SHUT IT ALREADY!!" Shinji suddenly popped out of nowhere and kicked the three morons into the courtyard with full-force. All three looked up at their captain who was not pleased to say the least, with his arms crossed against his chest. "If you wanna fight, then fight against me!" He pointed to himself confidently. "Shikai, Bankai, Kidou… use anything you want, just keep your private life away from your work life!!" He yelled out as all three slowly got up and faced him. Shinji stepped into the courtyard and walked farther in as not to kill or harm any passersby's.

**[With the Tsukiyomi Family]**

"What the?" Saki eyed the phone confused as the line was suddenly cut; only the monotonous beeps could be heard. She hung up and put the phone away as she sat next to her daughter, bowing slightly to the nobles who were still there.

"Who was that?" Rina asked curiously.

"Your stupid dad, doing his stupid things" She rolled her eyes at the conversation that just happened.

"Your husband… he isn't Tsukiyomi Tatsuya of Division 5 is he?" The elder Kuchiki Captain spoke up confirming his thoughts.

"The one and only." Saki nodded.

"HA?" Byakuya suddenly blurted out in shock. "He's related to you guys?" He asked in disbelief. Comparing Tatsuya to his family, Tatsuya seemed to be the odd one out – noisy, rude, quick to jump to conclusions etc. – it was no wonder why the Kuchiki's were double-guessing their thoughts until it was revealed.

"I know, and I'm sorry if he… no, I mean that he did something stupid to you" She apologized for her husband's antics that were unknown to her. Her woman's intuition just told her that Tatsuya had done something really stupid to them.

The elderly captain tried to persuade Saki not to feel guilty about her husband's actions while Byakuya had the opposite reaction. He didn't say anything but it was all over his face that he was thinking "Damn right he did something stupid! And if he does it again I'm gonna kick his ass!"

Rina tugged her mom's kimono sleeve after finishing an onigiri. "Can I take it off yet? It doesn't hurt anymore" Rina pointed to her right hand which was bandaged up for about a week or so now. Saki nodded as Rina happily removed the bandages from her hand. Once taken off, a black tattoo-like mark was left on her palm – a small flame. Both Kuchiki's saw this but seeing as it was probably more of a family thing they decided not to question anything at all. "I'm gonna play with Tori and Mika." She said as she left the kitchen, running outside in search for her two friends. Saki grasped her hands concerned as she stared at the back of her daughter running away.

---

"Gah!!" Yuudai's zanpakutou was flung out of his hands as he was knocked backwards, sending his weapon flying into a wooden post nearly missing the heads of the shinigami that were watching the battle. "Dammit" He cursed as he swiftly retrieved his weapon and went into Shikai release, sending ferocious winds about the division.

"Same old, same old." Shinji yawned as he dodged a sudden gust of heavy air pressure that was sent at him. So far, the fight was barely interesting to him. He had seen their attacks many times and would agree with almost anyone that they packed a punch but for this battle, all three of them were not fighting as a team. It was more like a stress-reducing activity to the three. A red-orange color reflected off of his zanpakutou and a sudden heat-wave blasted through. He dodged the fire attack with ease, appearing behind Tatsuya thrusting his weapon into his back to which the shinigami dodged. Water swirled around Shinji's hands that held his zanpakutou; it morphed into a hand-like figure and gripped Shinji's hands tight together. Shinji hadn't seen this attack for a while and struggled to get free as Jiro sent his weapon straight at Shinji's gut.

"Guh!" Shinji gasped as he was impaled by Jiro. He smirked slightly though as he used a kidou blast to free himself of Jiro's tactics. He put his hand to the wound; a greenish glow formed slowly healing the wound. "Don't think that that's gunna work!" He jeered at the three who were panting and quite livid with his constant insults. Shinji looked around the courtyard; he was so glad that he had insurance against, fire, water and wind damage.

**Meanwhile with the crowds that were watching the fight…**

One shinigami's eyes were wide as saucers as his eyes were glued to the scene before him. It looked too familiar to be a coincidence; his hands were trembling slightly – one other shinigami took note to his strange behavior. Tanimura Takeru of Division 3 was in the crowds too watching the fight. He wasn't too interested in it until he heard that the three fighting against Hirako-taichou of Division 5 were none other than the three he was trying to investigate more on. He eyed the three men suspiciously, he didn't want to make any mistakes but a lot of things were pointing to that one conclusion sitting in his subconscious.

"Oi." He tapped the trembling shinigami's shoulder. He turned to him in response. "What's the deal with you?" He asked him pointing to his jitteriness. All he got was stammering and stuttering; a bunch of hullabaloo. He sighed and dragged him away from the fight to get a proper response.

"Those three…" The shinigami gulped as Takeru stared at the man before him. "I'm positive that they were the ones behind those murders" He told him with Takeru eyeing him suspiciously.

"What makes you say that?"

"What were the injuries inflicted on all the victims?" The shinigami retorted trying to prove his point. Takeru thought for a while, and then his eyes widened slightly. Coincidence? Possibly but it couldn't be ignored. The motive for it? He might just have it. Takeru walked off leaving the fight, to try and find his captain.

---

**[Later that night…]**

_"Emergency meeting! Emergency meeting! All captains are to report to Division 1's headquarters immediately!"_ This blared throughout Seireitei, waking up each captain to their displeasure. Urahara grumbled as he sat up rubbing his eyes.

_"The reiatsu of Division 9's Captain, Muguruma Kensei and, Lieutenant Kuna Mashiro, have vanished!" _Urahara jolted up awake now, sensing the seriousness of this issue. Division 9 had been deployed not too long ago to investigate the mysterious vanishings in Rukongai. He rushed over to a laboratory questioning a lone shinigami on Hiyori's whereabouts. Hiyori had left and was headed for Rukongai where her two friends had disappeared. He then rushed over to Division 1 to where he should've gone to first. He was late again but paid no mind to that.

"Let me go!" He demanded to the old Captain-Commander. "My lieutenant is already heading there!" He pleaded once more, only to be shot down by Yoruichi. Yamamoto addressed the seriousness of this incident and sent off Division 3's Captain – Otoribashi Rojuro, Division 5's Hirako Shinji and Division 7's Captain – Aikawa Love. Yoruichi was to be on standby for separate orders while Unohana, Kuchiki and Ukitake were to guard Seireitei. To emphasize the seriousness of the matter even more, Tsukabishi Tessai – Grand Kidou Chief – and Ushouda Hachigen – Assistant Kidou Chief – of the Kidou Corps were sent in for backup purposes.

"Yamajii—" Kyouraku suddenly interrupted. "Isn't it a bad idea to send both the Grand Kidou Chief and the Assistant Kidou Chief?" He wondered out loud. Yamamoto questioned him on what he should've done instead. "Send my lieutenant instead." He offered.

Ukitake looked at him confused. "You're gonna call her now?" He asked him bewildered.

"Yep, Lisa-chan!" He sang out calling for his lieutenant. Lisa popped up outside the room, peering into the window.

"Now what?" She asked quite peeved while Kyouraku had a sly smile on his face directed towards Ukitake.

"How many times have I told you not to spy on our meetings?" He asked her. She didn't care about the spying matter; it wasn't like she wasn't the only one. "You've heard it all, can I count on you?" He asked her. She simply nodded and took off immediately.

---

"Stupid sh-thead Shinji…" Tatsuya grumbled as he cleaned up in the office. That was the punishment that Shinji had given them to do once the battle had finished with Shinji the winner; but the other two had bailed out leaving Tatsuya alone to finish it up. He grumbled some more colorful words before leaving. As he opened the door, he met with someone he hadn't seen before. "Uh… can I help you?" He asked him confused.

"Tsukiyomi Tatsuya, descendant of Tsukiyomi Hiroshi right?" The male questioned him with his serious face. Tatsuya raised an eyebrow, now sensing the atmosphere that had settled.

"Yeah, what of it?" He asked him cautiously. Suddenly, out of nowhere, more shinigami swarmed in trapping Tatsuya in his division's office. He looked around not having a good feeling of things as his right hand went down to his zanpakutou's hilt, just in case. Things weren't looking too good.

---

Yuudai was walking back to his room after a good training exercise by himself. He ran his fingers through his hair as he looked up at the full moon while walking. Just a moment ago an alarm was blaring out but now it was seemingly quiet. Whatever it was, it was something that was already being taken care of. He turned a corner to almost walk into Ichimaru Gin. He glared at the kid who was just smiling up at him like always. Yuudai grunted as he walked around Gin, but Gin wouldn't let him pass.

"What the hell? Let me through!" Yuudai demanded as he and Gin kept walking in the same direction, side-to-side over and over again.

"I can't let ya do that" Gin responded with his innocent smile still painted on his face. Yuudai stopped as he glared down at him even more, if that was possible. Gin pulled out his zanpakutou all the sudden causing Yuudai to be on guard.

"Seriously kid, that ain't funny" Yuudai warned him as he gripped his zanpakutou's hilt tightly preparing for the worst.

"I'm just doin' what I was told to do" Gin shrugged as slowly, more shinigami crowded around with a look of malice on their faces. Yuudai looked around, seeing that the only exit was up (or down, but that option was highly impossible for him).

"Who did?" Yuudai questioned once more as tensions rose between him and everyone else in the vicinity.

"Aizen" That name caused Yuudai to draw out his zanpakutou as Gin released his into Shikai causing a full-blown battle to ensue.

---

"Wah… I think I had a little too much…" Jiro groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose, walking away from the bar he was just in. He bumped into someone he didn't know. "Sorry" He burped out as he walked unsteadily on his path but only to be stopped once more. Jiro opened his eyes fully to see the man in front of him. "Hm?" He looked at the man that had stopped him then looked behind him to see no one. "Can I help you?" He asked.

Suddenly a mob of shinigami ran past them towards the gates heading into Rukongai. Jiro looked at them with wonder.

"An emergency meeting was held just now." The unknown man told Jiro as he looked back at him. "It seems that Division 9's Captain and Lieutenant were in trouble so reinforcements were sent." He continued on with Jiro understanding every word of it.

"Uh, that's great to know but…"

"Those who were sent were, Otoribashi Rojuro, Hirako Shinji, Aikawa Love, Yadomaru Lisa, and Ushouda Hachigen. No one else except those five." Jiro looked at the man again confused. If only five people were sent, then where were those shinigami headed for?

"Who are you?" Jiro finally asked him. The man remained silent, not showing any sign of him giving up his name. A loud 'clang' was heard off in the distance. Jiro's eyes darted over to the noise wondering what had caused it. It sounded a lot like two swords clashing against each other.

"Kurai Jiro, descendant of Kurai Isamu; tonight you shall repent for the sins of those before you and you yourself" Jiro looked back at the man who had his zanpakutou drawn and was on the verge of striking him. Jiro dodged with ease – a remarkable feat considering that he had been drinking quite a bit just earlier – he grabbed his zanpakutou not wanting to attack. Strange things were happening and he didn't want to provoke anymore suspicion. "You may want to call your family one last time."

Jiro's eyes widened, he suddenly realized where all those shinigami were headed. He cursed under his breath and shunpoed away towards the gates with the man right behind him. Off in the distance he spotted what looked like Tatsuya running away from a mob of shinigami who had their zanpakutou's drawn. For some reason, no one seemed to wake up to this commotion, as if everyone were under a spell to not notice anything odd.

"Tatsuya!" He yelled out, getting a response from that shinigami. "They're headed for—"

"I know!" Tatsuya cut him off and used shunpo to appear right beside his fleeing friend. "Have you seen Yuudai?"

Before Jiro could answer, Yuudai darted right past them with a long blade trailing him fast. They looked behind them to see none other than the prodigy Ichimaru Gin and his zanpakutou in Shikai release. Sensing how bad the situation was, they picked up the pace and flew through the open gates that Jidanbou was "guarding".

"Oi Yuudai!" Both men yelled out to their faster friend as they slowly reached up to his pace. Yuudai looked at them both.

"What the hell is going on!?" He yelled out seeing that the chase wasn't over as he saw shinigami race after them. "Frickin Aizen!"

"Aizen?" Both yelled out in shock.

"So it was him!!" Jiro smacked himself in the head for not noticing it earlier when everything was out in the open.

"But why?" Tatsuya wondered out loud. "What does he have against us?"

"Hell like I know!" Both men yelled back in response as they sped up even more, nearly reaching their limits. They were only relying on the adrenaline rush now to escape and hopefully reach their families who were in danger, first.

"By the way, what happened to all the captains here!?" Yuudai wondered out loud. Jiro explained the situation that had unfolded moments ago. That answered the question on why some captains were missing but as for the others… Jiro couldn't explain that part. "Urahara?" He asked the other two. Both of them shrugged, his reiatsu had disappeared suddenly causing them to believe that he wasn't in Seireitei, rather with everyone else in Rukongai. "Guess we're on our own" He muttered as he glanced behind. He cursed to see that they hadn't outrun them just yet.

In a matter of minutes, all of them entered the outskirts of Rukongai and into the deep, dark forests. Not once did they see any of their captains upon arrival, they were probably in another part of the outskirts, just miles away. The three split up, hopefully dividing up the mob behind them but also to reach their families and hope that they get out alive.

---

Tatsuya ran through the dark forests knowing exactly where to go from running back and forth through this forest many times, eventually memorizing each tree and root on his route. The leaves brushed against him as he ran with twigs occasionally scratching him every now and then. The roots seemingly disappeared as he ran smoothly without getting caught or tripping over anything. It looked like nature was on his side tonight. He stopped behind a tree after hearing a rustling noise from nearby bushes. With his zanpakutou at hand, he silently released Hanabi into Shikai release; her flames danced around casting shadows from every tree, leaf and branch. He approached the source of the noise, not sensing a high-level reiatsu. Sensing this he let his guard down slightly as the person burst through.

"Rina?" He sighed in relief that it was only his daughter that had appeared before him. "Why are you here?" He asked her gripping his daughter's shoulders tight as her eyes looked into his.

"Mom told me to leave" She replied, looking at her horror-stricken-faced father.

"Were there anyone like me at our house?" He asked her pointing to the uniform and zanpakutou, she merely nodded and in a flash he darted off. "RUN AND HIDE!!" He yelled back to his daughter as he continued on, not knowing what he would see when he arrived at his home.

--

"Bakufu, go!" Jiro ordered his zanpakutou as he deactivated Shikai release, leaving an ordinary sword in its place.

_"But!!"_ She protested, the sword shaking in refusal.

"Just do it!" He ordered her. "I don't care what happens to me anymore, just make sure Mika survives! That's all I ask for!" He told her, sensing the zanpakutou spirit materializing in front of him. He stopped momentarily to: 1) catch his breath and 2) talk some sense into his zanpakutou.

Normally Bakufu would've materialized into her 'bat form' but this time around she materialized into her true form. A woman with long shimmering blue hair partly held up with expensive hair ornaments decorating her head for a noble look. Crystal blue eyes seemingly as cold as ice itself; she was wearing a midnight-blue kimono of many layers with gold intricate designs on them with an ivory obi tying up her outfit.

"Decided to show yourself huh?" He asked rhetorically as the spirit stared down at him.

_"Are you sure?"_ She asked one last time. Jiro nodded before speaking his last words to her.

"It's a pity we couldn't fight our last battle together but, I'll leave you in Mika's hands. Look after her for me that is my last wish." He told her before the spirit dematerialized into a blue orb and whisked away to where Mika was. Jiro looked at the spiritless sword; he knew clearly that he was now on his own and didn't have Bakufu to help him. He rushed to his home; the noise of fighting gradually grew louder until he reached the scene where his worst nightmare turned to reality.

---

"Aiko, you've done enough!" Yuudai snapped out to his sickly wife who was coughing up blood. He was standing in front of her now holding the task of protecting them and what was left of their family. Aiko had a weak body and her sickness had acted up once she unleashed a powerful kidou blast, sending many shinigami flying outwards. "Sh-t…" He cursed as he bit his lip, seeing all the shinigami swarm around them once again. Amongst the shinigami were Tanimura Mizuki who was trembling slightly from having to fight and the young prodigy, Ichimaru Gin.

"Eh…? That's it? How borin'" Gin sighed as he cast his eyes off to the side in sheer boredom. "You could at least show me your Shikai" Gin proposed looking back at Yuudai who had kept his glare steady the whole time.

Yuudai couldn't use his Shikai. The spirit had left the sword which in turn drastically reduced Yuudai's power. "Too bad." Yuudai smirked as he held his zanpakutou firmly in front of him with both hands. "You don't deserve to see what my Shikai is."

Gin frowned in disappointment. "Heh… I really wanted this to last a bit longer… but I guess I have no choice!" He revealed his blood-red eyes as he released Shinsou to Shikai. Yuudai's eyes widened at Gin's eyes as he blocked the attack. He somehow managed to push Gin's attack away, only to be met with more and more attacks from every other shinigami.

"Dammit, I can't hold them off much longer…" Yuudai panted as he received another slash across his arm. "Aiko…" He called out and looked behind him slightly. "Aiko?" All he could see was his wife's motionless body, collapsed on the ground. He bit his lip to suppress a curse as he turned back to the fight. "Bakudou No. 21, Sekienton!!" A blast of red smoke filled the area, completely blinding everyone from each other. "Oh ruler, mask of flesh and blood, all creations of the universe, fluttering of the wings, ye who bears the name of man! Truth and temperance, strike but lightly your claw upon this wall which feigns ignorance of sin! Hadou No. 33, Soukatsui!!" A large blue blast flew out of the red smoke and hit all the shinigami as Yuudai made his escape and tried to get everyone of his family, who were still alive, away from them.

"Ikorose, Shinsou!"

"Guh!!" Yuudai looked down to see a blade pierced through his gut from behind. "Ichimaru!" He coughed out as he looked back at the little devil standing behind him.

"Eh… I really wanted to see your Shikai ya know." Gin told him with a frown. "Guess you'll only be able to see mine." He shrugged as he pulled the blade away, causing Yuudai to collapse. Yuudai struggled to get back on his feet but every time he tried to, he'd start coughing up blood. It didn't help his situation since he was also bleeding heavily from the wound. He collapsed on the ground, his eyes glazed over from the lack of blood in his system.

"At least Tori got out safely…" He muttered to himself; a pair of feet came into his view. His eyes gazed up to see who it was. "Aizen…" He spat out. Suddenly, the person who he thought was Aizen, transformed into some other shinigami that he'd never seen before. "Playing stupid tricks still huh…" Darkness.

* * *

"To be attacked by your own weapon, pitiful isn't it?"

Tatsuya coughed out blood as he struggled to stay alive. A few seconds or minutes, that's all he hoped for. He already knew the situation was hopeless; bodies of his family littered their mansion – as far as he knew, he was the only one conscious.

"Aizen, don't think this is the end." Tatsuya spat out at Aizen, who had an eyebrow raised at Tatsuya's comment. Tatsuya smirked at glared up at him before succumbing to the darkness. He was now lifeless.

* * *

"All three are gone now." Gin announced to Aizen who was standing next to Shinji's collapsed body on the ground. Aizen glanced at the child and a smirk was painted on his lips.

"I see." He turned his attention back to his fallen captain. Blood streaked Shinji's face as he kept his glare on Aizen. He struggled to get up on his elbows as he started to talk to his traitorous lieutenant.

"So you're the one who did this." Shinji growled menancingly at Aizen.

"You noticed? Since when?" Aizen asked him with a smile on his face.

"Since you were in yer mother's womb." Aizen only had a look of satisfaction on his face while Shinji struggled to position himself better. "I believed for a while now, that you are a dangerous man who can't be trusted… That's why I chose you as my lieutenant – so I could keep an eye on you."

"Yes, and I thank you for that Hirako-taichou. Since you distrusted me so deeply, you failed to notice it."

Shinji raised an eyebrow at this. "I already said that I _did_ notice it."

"No. You did not notice that, for the past month the man walking behind you was not me." Shinji's eyes widened in shock. How was that possible? "Making the 'enemy' misunderstand any phenomenon in this world according to my will. That is the true power of my zanpakutou, Kyouka Suigetsu – Complete Hypnosis." Aizen had his zanpakutou drawn out now.

"Complete… Hypnosis…?!"

"Had you connected with me the same way as the other captains had with their adjutants, you may have been able to see through it. However, you never once did that." Shinji's eyes narrowed at Aizen as he coughed slightly. "You did not trust me therefore, you always maintained a distance between you and I. That's why you didn't notice, even when I switched with someone else."

Shinji smirked slightly which surprised Aizen to say the least. "Fine you got me… but why did you go after those three?" Shinji asked.

Aizen's face didn't show any expression from this question. "Somehow, those three idiots, even though they didn't trust me like you, slowly figured everything out."

"Huh? That doesn't make sense with what you just said before!" Shinji hissed out, clearly confused but didn't want to show it, especially with the situation he was in.

"I can't explain it either, may it be their zanpakutou's powers or they somehow managed to see through my illusion – highly unlikely though, might I add."

"Heh, just admit it Aizen, you were scared of those three." Shinji smirked as he sat up now grabbing his zanpakutou. "Gah!!" Suddenly a white hollow's masked started to form across his face. The hollowification process had started. Shinji whipped around to look at his fallen comrades who were also going through the change. "What the hell is this Aizen?!" Shinji screamed out as his mask concealed more and more of his face.

"Hollowification" Aizen replied.

"Hollowification? What's that?" Shinji questioned, with only the left side of his face, not concealed.

"You don't need to know"

Screams erupted from everyone going through this process. The tiny form that was Hiyori's slowly rose from the ground. A hollow's mask covered her face completely and had her zanpakutou drawn.

"Shi…Shin… ji…" She muttered out, her eyes drifted off to where he was.

"Kaname" Aizen ordered. Kaname drew out his zanpakutou and proceeded to slay Hiyori.

"No, sto--!!" Too late, Kaname already reached Hiyori and slew her.

"Let us put an end to this, Hirako-taichou." Aizen cut in as Hiyori's body crumpled down to the ground. "You were the perfect commanding officer. You were wary of me so you kept me close, you were wary of me so you kept your distance. You thought that you could control and suppress my activities by keeping an eye on me." Aizen raised his zanpakutou above his weakened captain. "Sayonara, Hirako-taichou" Aizen's eyes suddenly flew to the side as he dodged an oncoming attack from Urahara. "Looks like we have another pair of guests…"

* * *

_(I don't want to type this part out because that would make you have to read even more than you have to – if you want to know, read the manga – Ch. -098. Turn Back the Pendulum 11 and Ch. -097. Let Stop the Pendulum)_

* * *

"Ah… they got away" Gin sighed in disappointment gazing at the barren land where most of their captains and some of their lieutenants once lay. Urahara and Tsukabishi were gone as well, after performing a forbidden kidou spell to escape.

"Doesn't matter, the Gotei 13 will get rid of them for us." Aizen muttered, sheathing Kyouka Suigetsu. "Did you do what I asked you to do?" He turned to Gin.

"Yup. No one was left alive." He pointed to the two bodies of the Tsubaki siblings lying in a heap surrounded by several other shinigami. Aizen's eyes narrowed at the sight but a smirk appeared on his face yet again. "But…"

"But?" Aizen raised an eyebrow. Gin rubbed the back of his head with a somewhat confused look on his face. "I'm sure I heard them say that 'it wasn't over'." Gin told Aizen. "And the fight was too easy, they wouldn't use Shikai for some reason."

"They wouldn't use Shikai…?" Aizen was at a loss of words. "Hn. Seems like they really weren't as stupid as they looked. We're leaving." He ordered the other two shinigami as they left Rukongai, back to Seireitei.

--

**[5 years later]**

"Shinigami…!?" Three girls looked up at him in shock in Divison 5's HQ. Aizen was now the captain of the 5th division. It was barely visible but a smirk was formed on his face.

* * *

_Wah, I know crappy ending but whatever, it's done and over with!! Oh and just so I don't get these messages, I didn't forget to put in Jiro's death I chose not to because I felt like a real d--che to think of 3 different ways to die so yeah... if it ended up a bit too graphic than your liking I'm sorry. Not sure when the next one will come out since school's starting again... (damn)._


	18. The Real Deal

_Okay, I'm not sure why but this one ended up a lot longer than my normal chapters. Probably cuz of the fight scenes and stuff... yeah... sorry if the fight scenes seem lame...

* * *

_

Back in Urahara's shop, silence was all that could be heard in the room. Nobody said a word, nobody moved a muscle – it was a very tense moment. Urahara remained silent, knowing that it was best to keep quiet and let the news sink in to the three before him.

"Eh..." Mika broke the silence awkwardly as she shuffled slightly. She never liked silent, awkward moments; she never knew what to do in these types of situations. "I know I'm gonna sound like a b-tch saying this but uh, Gin sounded so cool!!" Mika squealed as Urahara's jaw dropped in shock.

"What!? He killed—"

"Oh my god, Byakuya was a little turd!" Rina banged her head on the table, her shoulders shuddering from her trying to suppress her laughter at the thought of it.

"What?!"

"And you were such a dweeb!!" Tori pointed at Urahara who was more than confused at the situation.

"Eh...? What? What!? Eh?!" Urahara's head moved side-to-side looking at each of the girls in shock. Had they not heard the last part of the story at all? Well, it was possible since their attention span was comparable to that of a fly. "Did you guys even listen to me!?" He yelled out flabbergasted.

"We sure did, but by the way, how did you know of the conversations that our families had in private?" Tori asked him, narrowing her eyes at him. "Were you a creepy stalker guy that watched people as they slept!?" Tori wondered out loud, clearly influenced by way too many movies.

"No... your father's and I were close buddies." Urahara explained. All three girls looked at him doubtfully.

"Really... cuz I never heard about you till I was in the Shinigami Academy." Mika told him questioning his explanation.

"Yeah... but more importantly, Rina!!" Tori yelled out at her half-awake friend. She jolted up in surprise. "You knew Byakuya when you were a kid!? How come you never told us!?" Tori wailed.

"I swear, I do not remember any of that!!" Rina waved her hands in front of her trying to escape from hell that would surely unfold. "But, that would explain why he knew of the Tsukiyomi name..." Rina pondered silently to herself, trying to piece things together.

"Whatever, but your dad would so kill you right now!" Mika laughed at her as Rina banged her head on the table once again.

"Mika, don't forget that Hiyori is your family's rival. You better live up to it!" Rina retorted, the smirk on Mika's face disappeared as that thought was hammered into her brain.

"You're right." She stood up, her eyes burning with fury. "I'ma kill Hiyori!!" She punched her hand and marched off, only to be stopped by Urahara.

"Did you guys actually listen to me at all?" Urahara wondered out loud again. "Aizen, has to be stopped this time. I don't understand why you guys thought rehab would work!" Urahara scolded them.

"Well, we couldn't help it besides, it's helped a lot of people." Tori explained to him. "Not the famous people but normal people, yeah it's worked."

"Does Aizen and his buddies count as 'normal people'?" Urahara asked her. She glanced to the side in realization. Maybe rehab was a stupid idea after all.

"Don't worry Urahara, we know what to do." Rina assured him with a nod. "Oh but by the way, do you know anything about these...?" She pointed to the flame tattoo on her hand. Urahara's eyes glinted strangely as he looked at all three of them.

"This is going to sound superficial and you're probably not going to believe me." He started off as the three of them looked at him intently. "Those are actually seals to your families' powers." He looked at the three who were now beyond confused. What was that supposed to mean? "When your fathers went back, do you remember anything from that moment?" He asked them. They all looked up in thought trying to remember anything.

"Not a clue." Rina shook her head.

"Nothing important, I don't think..." Mika murmured, her forefinger pressed to her lip.

"I remember being knocked out cold by my dad." Tori brought up. Everyone stared at her strangely. "What? It's true!!" She shouted out.

"Actually that's probably related to what I'm getting at." Urahara cut in. "Your families had numerous people with spirtual powers, am I right?" They nodded. "Those people, sealed part of their own powers into you three." He told them.

"What!?" Rina stared at her hand, trembling slightly. "You can do that!?" She asked him, bewildered.

"I'm not sure how, it was a family secret between your families." He shrugged off as the other two absorbed the new information.

"Wah... so we're _horcruxes_?" Mika groaned.

"Technically... yes. You need to unseal this power, especially if you want to see Soul Society again. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to do that."

"Useless..." They all scoffed silently under their breaths.

"You three know what to do right?"

"Yup, all we gotta do is defeat Aizen, and save Soul Society from a sh-tty future!" Mika pumped her fists as she started to leave again. She stopped suddenly, after realizing something. She turned around to face the other three people in the room. "Can we really beat Aizen?" She asked curiously.

"Psh. No!" Urahara snorted out loud. He pushed his hat down even more to hide his eyes. "If you guys could do that, it'd be the end of the world for sure!!" He looked back up at the three girls, only to find them bowing their heads in despair, with gloom clouds swirling above their heads.

"Why bother telling us anything at all?" They whined as they heaved a sigh a disappointment.

"Face reality, you three can't defeat Aizen. The only person who could or at least come close to defeat him would be Yamamoto-soutaichou, right?" He pointed out to them as they regained their composure. "Instead, I want you three to destroy the Hougyoku." He told them causing all three to look at him as if he were crazy.

"The Hougyoku...?!" Tori exclaimed in shock. "You think _we_ could destroy it!?"

"Not by yourselves you can't, you need the power of an arrancar and a vizard. Otherwise you three will end up hurting, killing yourselves, or in the worst case scenario, transform into a vizard." Urahara explained to them. It was clearly more complicated than it looked. "At least... that's how I believe you can destroy it..." He trailed off silently as all three girls gave him a look of bewilderment.

"So you're just guessing on how to destroy it, am I right?" Mika snapped out at him, slamming her fist onto the table.

"Y-Yeah..." All three sighed at Urahara's hypothesis. If his idea didn't work in the end, they wouldn't know if they would be dead or part hollow in the end.

"How sure are you about this?" Rina asked him skeptically.

"Like... 53 percent sure...?" He squeaked out meekly. He was soon met with death glares and was cornered with the walls blocking his way out. "I'm sorry!! I did research on my own creation but in the end I really don't know anything!!" He yelled out in despair, his hands shielding his face. He looked up a few minutes later to see that all three were ready to leave.

"53 percent... not what I want to work with but... that was our grade average in the academy so something will happen." Tori spoke up as Mika drew her zanpakutou, jabbed it into the air and turned it clockwise. A gate appeared and they all walked in.

* * *

"F-ck! Where are those three b-tches!?" Apache, the short-haired arrancar yelled out. She and the other two, Mila-Rose and Sun-Sun were searching for the three shinigami mercifully that had caused them to summon Allon. Much to their displeasure, Allon had been killed off by the Captain-Commander in one fatal strike with his zanpakutou. They would've been killed next as the Captain-Commander had then turned his focus to them, but suddenly they sensed the reiatsu of the three they were looking for.

"Apache, calm down. Your big mouth will scare them away." Sun-Sun told her calmly as Apache started yelling curses out to her.

"Found them!" Mila-Rose announced and immediately headed for the source of the reiatsu. Her wavy dark hair billowed behind her as she closed in on them fast.

"Too slow..." A mocking voice sounded from behind her. Mila-Rose turned around to meet Mika's grin and her zanpakutou drawn. "Seriously, we disappear for an hour or two and you guys get weaker, how disappointing!" She sighed disappointed.

"You b-tch!!" Mila-Rose roared as she grabbed her zanpakutou with her right (and only arm) and swung it viciously at Mika. Mika moved to the side and gave an icy glare to the arrancar in front of her.

"And to think that I'll need one of your kind to help me..." She muttered as she shunpoed away and struck Mila-Rose from behind. "Geez, can't we just talk like normal civilized people?" Mika asked, crouching down with her cheek in her palm. Mila-Rose responded with a roar of some sort and then a sharp jab to the air. "I guess not..." Mika sighed. "Barricade, Bakufu!!" She yelled out, only to have no reaction whatsoever from her zanpakutou. "What the...?" She stared at her zanpakutou questioningly. "This is not the time to be a b-tch, Bakufu!!" She yelled out frustrated.

"Mika, Bakufu will not respond to that anymore." Isamu, the oversized bat flew in and informed her.

"Whaddya mean she won't respond to that anymore!?" Mika demanded Isamu for answers. "Oh and by the way, how come my ancestor that screwed up so long ago here, has the same name as you!?" She asked him suddenly, completely ignoring the arrancar.

"Wh- that's besides the point!" Isamu protested, trying to dodge the question. "Use Bakufu's real form, the form that your soul created. You can't rely on your father's power forever you know."

"What...?" Mika once again looked at her zanpakutou questioningly. Then something clicked in her mind. "So you're saying that for the whole time, I've been relying on my father's power and not my own..." Mika muttered. "I knew something was messed up when there was another form I could unleash!" Mila-Rose glanced at Mika.

"Hurry up and show me your new power if you're so confident about it!" She snapped out impatiently.

Mika smirked as she gripped her zanpakutou tighter in her hands. "You asked for it." She sneered. She held it out from her with both hands, so that it was perpendicular to her body. "Hanran suru, Bakufu (Flood, Bakufu)"

A sudden burst of reiatsu exploded in front of Mila-Rose who had to shield her face with her hands. She opened her eyes to see mist everywhere. It was hard to see but eventually it dissapated showing Mika and her new zanpakutou's form. In Mika's hands was a magari yari (Japanese cross-shaped spear, looks similar to a trident). The blades were coated with ice and had ragged cloth tied to the the base of the head of the spear (if that makes sense), and also on the very end of the weapon (think of Kaien's zanpakutou).

"What is that?" Mila-Rose asked her, baffled from Mika's high-level reiatsu. It wasn't anything like it was a few seconds ago, her power didn't feel like it could be a 3rd seats, maybe a lieutenant's... had she been hiding her potential the whole time?

"Ugh!" Mika groaned as the weapon came crashing down at her feet. She was panting heavily and her reiatsu was fluctuating slightly. "Damn this takes a lot out of me." She laughed silently as she struggled to raise the weapon above her head. "I so need to practice after this is over!!"

"Mika?" Renji looked into the direction where he clearly sensed Mika's reiatsu. However, it was a lot stronger than he recognized it to be.

---

"Abarai-taichou!" A shinigami called out to him after a bunch of his men had gotten rid of the many hollows raiding their territory.

"You guys continue on, I'll catch up later" He told them as he shunpoed off immediately to where Mika was.

---

"Wah, she could so take over my position at this level." Rina commented at Mika's reiatsu level that was surprising and overpowering at the same time.

"You gonna pull out any tricks like your friend did?" Apache asked the lieutenant before her. Rina looked back at Apache.

"I would, but it would be a waste to use it on someone like you." Rina said with a smirk as she unsheathed her zanpakutou and held it horizontally from her. "But if it's the only thing that'll keep you away from my task then so be it." She sighed as Apache roared out in fury. "Bakuhatsu suru, Hanabi (Explode, Hanabi)"

Another explosion erupted through Seireitei with a sudden burst of reiatsu. Apache coughed from the ash and smoke that had clouded the area.

"The hell is this!?" She coughed out as she scanned the area for the shinigami. "Where the f-ck did she go?" She cursed, not being able to spot the shinigami, despite the spike in reiatsu. She suddenly felt a cold metal blade pressed against her neck.

"Right behind ya!" Rina yelled out as she slashed across Apache's neck. Unfortunately for her Apache dodged just so that she could keep her head but that didn't mean that there wasn't a fatal wound.

"Dammit" She growled as she grabbed her bleeding neck. "What the hell happened to your zanpakutou!?" She asked, finally being able to see the new transformed zanpakutou. The former katana-based weapon was now a Guan Dao with a black pole and a red tassel at the joint between the blade and the pole. The large blade at the end shone a brilliant red-orange color and from the air patterns around it, it showed that it gave off a large amount of heat.

"So... f-cking... heavy..." Rina cursed as she heaved it up so that it wasn't anchoring her down to the ground. "I so need Ikkaku to teach me how to fight with one of these..." She bit her lip as she sensed several shinigami closing in on her location – one of which was noneother than her captain. "Looks like I can't hold back today" She sighed as she sent a wave of flames to Apache's direction.

---

"Shimekorose, Anaconda!" Sun-Sun unleashed her Resurreccion and transformed into a human-snake hybrid. From the torso up she looked like a normal girl, save the mask and the pink dots under her eyes, from the torso down was a snake's body. Snakes shot out of her sleeve and were sent towards Tori. Tori had already activated Shikai release. Her original zanpakutou was a fan that could change to a sword as well, but this time she had two massive steel fans that she could use to attack and defend herself. They were both attached together with a long chain at the base of the fans. One fan acted as a shield as the snakes smashed up against it. She hurled the other fan at Sun-Sun; the fan opened up fully with reiatsu blades pointing out at the spokes (is that what they're called?) of the fan. As the fan spun around rapidly, blades of reiatsu shot out in all directions. In order not to be hit by her own attack, Tori made sure to concentrate all the blades on Sun-Sun.

"What?" Sun-Sun's eyes grew wide as she realized that even after dodging all the blades, they still came after her. "Damn!" She swore as they hit her. Tori pulled on the chain to retrieve her weapon back. The fan closed just as Tori grabbed it. Sun-Sun glared daggers at Tori as she prepped for her next attack. "Damn b-tch." Sun-Sun cursed as she disappeared and reappeared behind Tori.

"Don't think that I can't do the same thing too!" Tori mocked from behind Sun-Sun, the after-image of "Tori" still standing in front of Sun-Sun.

"Smarter than you look, huh..." Sun-Sun commented as this game of tag commenced.

Once one person had seemingly cornered their opponent, their opponent would then reappear somewhere else. Sun-Sun was getting more and more frustrated as Tori found it amusing. During this 'game' though, she had opened up both of her fans fully, and attached the two by the bases (the chain hanging down) so that she had a spiky-circle-shield like thing. Sun-Sun managed to fire a cero in Tori's direction to which it was blocked using her zanpakutou as a shield. More snakes shot out of Sun-Sun's sleeve directed towards Tori in every direction possible, only to be sliced and diced to small little pieces by strong winds that were formed around Tori. She swung her zanpakutou around like a lasso by holding on to the long chain that was hanging down. The winds began to thrash more causing damage to the buildings around them as they sliced through almost anything. Sun-Sun somehow managed to hold her ground as she peered at Tori's form. A twister had formed around Tori, engulfing her and her zanpakutou all together.

"What is this?" Sun-Sun wondered out loud as she saw the immense twister spiraling in front of her.

She saw a bright glint from within the twister; in a matter of seconds she dodged whatever had flown out of the twister. It turned out to be the zanpakutou itself, spinning around rapidly, being thrown like a boomerang. Now that she had dodged the weapon itself, there was the twister heading in her direction. Her proficient skills in Sonido helped her dodge out of harm's way, but that didn't mean that she was safe. The twister followed her with immense speed; Sun-Sun saw that down below on the ground where Tori was simply relaxing, the twister was being controlled by her mind, or so it seemed. She heard something from behind, heading her way – fast. She glanced for a second to see the zanpakutou returning with a million reiatsu blades being shot in her direction. She narrowed her eyes as she bolted back into the direction where Tori was standing. The twister and the blades followed her back to where Tori was standing, something that Sun-Sun had hoped would happen.

"Ah crud..." Tori groaned as she prepared for her next move. "Oh ruler, mask of flesh and blood, all creations of the universe, fluttering of the wings, ye who bears the name of man! Scorching heat and disorder, evolve the transposition of the southern sea barrier. Hadou No. 31, Shakkahou!" She yelled out as a red blast shot out of her hands.

Sun-Sun's eyes widened with horror, she had sandwiched herself in between all three attacks. As the red blast consumed her body she felt a million blades stab her from behind. The slicing winds of the twister added on to the kidou blast, multiplying the devasting effect of it all. The zanpakutou itself sliced through Sun-Sun, cutting her body into two pieces. Once everything had cleared out, Tori's weapon returned to her side as she grabbed the chain and split the two weapons apart. The combined attacks of all three had taken a lot of power out of Tori. She collapsed on one knee, trying to catch her breath. She never liked using kidou and after today, she would never use it again.

* * *

"Hm?" Harribel looked over into the distance, sensing Sun-Sun's reiatsu disappear suddenly. Had she been defeated already? She didn't want to believe it as Sun-Sun was a skilled fighter but she couldn't detect any presence of Sun-Sun again. Who had defeated her Fraccion? Her attention switched back into the battle she was currently engaged in. Her blade crossed with another as she blocked it successfully. "Your reiatsu just faltered for a second..." She commented to the captain she was fighting.

"That's none of your concern." Hitsugaya replied, slashing once more at the Espada. _"That was Tori's reiatsu just now... how did she get so strong?"_ He questioned this thought in his mind for the longest time before having to dodge a fatal attack by the Espada. He couldn't leave until he somehow managed to destroy her. "All this power and you're only number 3!?"

"All this power? I haven't even shown you the full extent of my power yet." Harribel responded.

"Bankai! Daiguren Hyourinmaru!" He released his Bankai just as Harribel moved in for the kill.

--

Ice shards scattered about the battle scene from Hitsugaya's Bankai release. Starrk looked off to where the source was, seemingly interested. He turned his eyes back to Kyouraku who was standing just as calm as Starrk in front of him.

"You guys are pretty strong." He commented. Kyouraku tilted his hat with a 'thank you' in response.

"Ah!" He groaned. "All I wanted to do was run around aimlessly and wait for the battle to be over." He sighed. "But I guess I can't do that now..."

"Heh... you and I are alike in many ways." Kyouraku pointed out with a calm smile on his lips. "The way I see it, she" He pointed over to Harribel's direction. "She's number 3... and hm... let's see." He looked over to Barragan's location. "I'm guessing jii-chan is number 1... and I'd be happy if you were number 2" Kyouraku hypothesized the ranks of the Espada.

Starrk had a hand held up to his head, his eyes were closed. "Is that so?" He questioned Kyouraku. "Sorry." He removed the glove off of his left hand, revealing a tattoo of the number "1" on his hand. "But I'm _primera_ (No. 1)"

"Ah... looks like this is gonna be tough, right Juushirou...?" Kyouraku asked Ukitake without turning around. "Juushirou?" He turned around to see no one behind him. "What? He ditched me!?" He sighed at this point. "Looks like I'm on my own for now..."

* * *

"Oi! Byakuya-kun!!" Ukitake yelled out as he shunpoed next to Byakuya's side. The two captains were walking side-by-side as Ukitake tried to talk to the other captain. "You felt that just now didn't you?" He asked him casually as Byakuya ignored him with a face of someone ready to kill another. "Ah, but is it really those three? I mean I've been watching them longer than any of their other captains have and I've never witnessed them with this kind of power before you know..." He trailed off noticing that he was merely talking to himself. He stared at the other captain for a moment. "Are you even listening?!" He asked him.

"I would've given you some kind of response for your first question by now wouldn't I?" Byakuya responded as he kept on walking with that serious look on your face.

"Geez, and I thought that you were nice and easier to talk to... ah Tsukiyomi is going to be very disappointed." Ukitake sighed at the cold-heartedness of Byakuya that had returned once again for this moment.

Just as they were about to turn a corner, the entire street blew up in front of them. Smoke and dust settled through, only to be whisked away by a cero blast. The two captains retreated slightly and prepared to attack.

"Quit running around, you b-tch!!" A fierce voice roared out as another cero was blasted through. This time the cero was thwarted away from a fire blast.

"Sorry, but I don't have time to chase reindeer." Rina sighed as she looked off to the side only to freeze once seeing two captains that she knew very well.

"R-Reindeer!?" Apache growled at Rina dissing her Resurreccion. Her body was covered in brown fur, she had two antlers protruding from her forehead and had hooves for feet. "I'll make you pay for that you b-tch!!" She roared out as she charged full force at the lieutenant.

"Byakurai!" A white blast shot out suddenly, causing Apache to stop in her tracks in order to not be hit. She looked at the perpetrator.

"Eh... so you called for help did'ya?" Apache smirked at the lieutenant who was trying to flee the scene. "Oi, where do ya think yer going!!" She yelled out preparing for another cero blast. Before she could though, another kidou blast was sent out at her. She dodged it and glared at the white-haired captain that had cast it. The other one had seemingly disappeared.

"Sorry, but looks like you'll have to do with me for now." Ukitake told her, releasing his zanpakutou in Shikai release. Apache sneered at his comment.

"Fine by me, I was getting a little tired of that b-tch's lame moves just now." She smirked as she started a battle with Ukitake.

---

"Where the hell have you been, and what happened to your zanpakutou!?" Byakuya scolded Rina who was holding up her Guan Dao zanpakutou in defense.

"Geez, I'm so sorry dad!" Rina pouted at him mockingly. "I was hanging out at Urahara's place and this is my real zanpakutou, happy?" She asked him, a frown still holding in place. Byakuya still held his glare on her, Rina noticed that he wasn't staring at her face, rather her left arm where the lieutenant badge used to be.

"What happened to the badge...?" He asked her. Time froze as Rina remembered that she had tossed it away in a secret underground chamber. "And you better explain why you were siding with the enemy and charged for treason." He continued on.

"Well uh... you see... I-I..." She stammered, babbling nonsense as she tried to make up a legitimate story. She was screwed and she knew it. "It... probably fell off when I was fighting..." She forced out, hoping that it would work. "And... I wasn't siding with the enemy... well at least those guys aren't... hopefully." She turned her eyes to the side where Ukitake was fighting Apache. Ukitake looked like he was having fun taunting the arrancar. "We can talk about this later right?" She asked him quickly, trying to hide away from his cold glare.

"Fine." He sighed. "But don't blame me when Yamamoto-soutaichou sends his troops to catch you." He told her as she now returned the glare.

"You're not going to cover for me?" She pouted at him.

"Why should I?" He asked her.

"Cuz if you don't I'll so blab to everyone what a little sh-t you were." She retorted with a smirk as she saw him freeze just ever so slightly. He looked at her all the sudden.

"What?"

"You heard me! Yeah, Urahara told me about what you were like when you were a kid... somehow I don't remember this since you and I met at one point before the whole killing thing began." She continued on, enjoying the blackmail against her captain.

"...This is the last time I'm covering for you, after this that's it." He muttered as he walked over to Ukitake's fight. Rina cheered silently at her victory as she followed her captain.

"Uki-kun, move it!" Rina yelled out at her former captain. Ukitake cringed at the familiar nickname that was given to him so long ago.

"Uki-kun?" He questioned silently, moping at the sound of it. He shuffled over to the side as Rina took over. Apache was pissed.

"What's wrong with you people!?" She yelled out in anger. "Two-against-one ain't fair!!"

Rina stared at her blankly. "Since when do you care about what's fair and what's not?" She asked her, cocking her head to the side.

Apache growled as she charged with frightening speed to where Rina was. Rina frantically slashed the air horizontally, creating a wave of flames shoot out much like Ichigo's Getsuga Tenshou.

"Where're ya hitting?!" Apache asked Rina as she suddenly appeared behind her. She thrusted her hand through Rina's back and it came out through the front, near where the heart was. Apache smirked. "Almost too easy." 'Rina' started to disappear and instead black flames took her place. "What the!?" Apache pulled her hand back only to find black flames engulfing her body. "What the hell is this!?"

"Ah... I'm not that stupid ya know" Rina sighed from behind Apache's burning body. Apache whipped her head around with a deadly glare.

"What is this!?" She growled angrily as the flames consumed more and more of her body. She screeched out in pain from the immense heat of the flames.

"It's called a fire clone, dummy. You didn't think I wouldn't think ahead did ya?" Rina scoffed at Apache's underestimation. She raised Hanabi to where the blade touched Apache's throat. Apache glared at Rina; the flames now covered 75 percent of her body. "Oh yeah, I think I forgot to tell you. I'm Tsukiyomi Rina; Lieutenant of the 6th Division. Hello, goodbye!" She slashed across Apache's neck, decapitating her as the flames burned up her body leaving nothing behind.

* * *

"First Sun-Sun, now Apache..." Mila-Rose murmured, blood dripping down from her forehead into her eyes. "Looks like you guys aren't that bad." She chuckled silently as she glared at Mika standing in front of her.

"Looks like I have to finish up now." Mika muttered as she walked closer to Mila-Rose. Mila-Rose was in a near-death experience. Mika had toyed around a bit, she could have finished her off sooner but she wanted to test out her new zanpakutou – she never had this habit till she joined the 11th Division. Pools of blood surrounded the arrancar, one of her legs muscles and tendons were slashed, completely making it useless. Even though she was in Resurreccion form, it was already looking hopeless for her survival.

"Make this one worthwhile..." Mila-Rose muttered as she fired a cero at Mika. It was a lot smaller and weaker than her normal ceros but it created the perfect distraction she needed. She jumped up onto a roof of a building and leapt up into the sky. It would be easier on her legs anyways. She looked down below to see Mika nowhere. She had a small moment of hope when she had thought that the cero had blasted her away but she was proven wrong. She felt the blade of Mika's zanpakutou prod into her back lightly. She looked around slowly with a look of fear on her face – one that she rarely showed.

"Freeze" Mika commanded her zanpakutou.

"Huh?" Mila-Rose was confused, nothing had happened. She used Sonido to get away from Mika, a good hundred feet away from her. "What did she do?" She wondered as she looked at her hands not noticing the silent killer that was already unleashed. Suddenly she couldn't feel both of her legs. "What's going on?!"

"Scared ya didn't I?" Mika grinned slyly, facing the numbing arrancar. "I said freeze but nothing happened right?" Mika asked playfully, the smile still on her face. "Wrong. You see, my zanpakutou Bakufu can control just about any type of fluid available as long as it has water involved with it. Your body, just like any normal human beings' body is made up of 75 percent water riiiiiiiiiight?" Mika drawled out the 'right' so that she could see Mila-Rose's shocked face. "Bakufu can boil or freeze any type of water; just to let you know, I'm letting you die the painless way. At least I think so, I've never done this before till now so you can tell me if you prefer being blown up from the inside out or being freezed to death!"

"You--!!" Mila-Rose's words got cut short as she started feeling a creeping chill throughout her body.

"Name's Kurai Mika. Later!" Mika saluted just as Mila-Rose faded off into darkness, her body fell to the ground – lifeless.


	19. Breath of Death

_Here's another unexpectedly fast release! I was looking at my other stories and realized that I finished those in like 4-5 months... yeah... this story has already hit it's two year mark so I'm going to try to finish this before it hits its three year mark, incomplete._

_SIDE NOTE: Inuyasha's continuing!!! _

_Ok here ya go!_

* * *

"Ow! That hurts you idiot!!" Mika bit her lip to try to suppress her yells of pain and agony. She whacked Renji on the head, who was currently piggybacking her due to her whining and complaints and such. He grumbled something but took special care in not hurting her again.

When Renji had arrived on scene, Mika was leaning against a wall panting heavily. Her reiatsu level was fluctuating badly and her zanpakutou was something that Renji had never seen before. He was lucky that Mika only overexerted herself and wasn't hurt physically too much. She only had a few bruises and minor scratches; overall she was in tip-top shape.

"I'm so sorry your **_highness_**!" Renji retorted in a mocking tone, only to be responded by another whack to the head. "Mika, I'm pretty sure I'm in more pain than you are right about now..." He grumbled as he kept on walking to Division 4 so that she could get checked up on and get some rest. "Care to explain what's up with your zanpakutou?" He asked her. Mika hadn't said anything about her zanpakutou or sudden spike in reiatsu level to Renji at all. Currently she had it sheathed properly and her reiatsu level was back down to normal so it seemed like nothing had happened at all to the shinigami.

"Fine I guess." Mika sighed in defeat. She rested her chin on Renji's head as she closed her eyes to think of where to start. "Well to put it simply the zanpakutou that you saw earlier is the real zanpakutou that was created from my soul. The old one was the one created from my father's soul." She explained Renji nodded in understanding.

"Looks like you're gonna need my help if you want to control a weapon like that." Renji smirked slightly.

"Mmkay." Mika agreed; Renji was shocked. Mika rarely agreed to what Renji brought up.

"Uh-oh." Renji stopped suddenly, Mika opened her eyes and looked around, darting her head in every which way.

"What?" She asked him looking down at him.

"Don't you sense that?" He asked her, his body tensing slightly.

"Sense wha—oh... yeah uh-oh..." Mika figured out what Renji was talking about. A large shadow loomed over the two of them. The soft ringing of bells was heard but in their minds, it was the sound of dinner bells.

"Ha! Found ya!" A dark voice laughed out. Renji and Mika turned their heads around slowly to see none other than Zaraki. Zaraki had a wide grin on his face and his zanpakutou was perched on his shoulder. "Mika you've sure gotten stronger. How about a one-on-one right now?" He proposed.

"Um... uh... normally I would say yes but um..." Mika stuttered as she kicked Renji in the sides slightly signalling for him to run away. Renji didn't get it; he thought Mika was mad at him for some reason.

"But what?" Zaraki asked walking closer to them as Renji backed up with each approaching step. "I saw your fight just now you know." He laughed his sinister laugh as Mika ran out of words to say. "Surely it can't hurt for _one_ battle?" He didn't give her time to approve as he swung down his zanpakutou with brutal force. Renji jumped out of the way and started a mad sprint towards Division 4. Mika's pain disappeared as fear took over. Sure, when she was in Division 11, she would've killed to have a one-on-one with Zaraki but after she left, it was like that dream had turned to a nightmare.

"RENJI HURRY UP HE'S GAINING ON US!!" Mika shrieked out grabbing his ponytail tightly.

"WHADDYA THINK I'M DOING!? THAT HURTS LEGGO!!" He yelled back in response. Renji swerved hard to the right as he ran with his life and Mika's life on the line. Renji didn't care if Zaraki wanted to fight him or not but this was definitely not the time to do it.

"Ah, it's Uki-Uki!!" Mika yelled out pointing to Ukitake who was just up ahead.

"Uki-Uki? Why are you making monkey noises, we almost died back there!!" He yelled at her as they closed in on Ukitake fast.

"I am not making monkey noises. I'm just saying that Uki-kun is right up ahead!!" Mika yelled out. During this mini argument, the two had failed to notice how close they were to Ukitake. They crashed into Ukitake who was also with the captain and lieutenant of Division 6.

"WAH!!!"

"OOF..."

"What the hell!?" Rina yelled out as she sat up, rubbing her head. She looked to her right to see Mika sprawled out on her belly. She sat up too and glared behind her. Rina followed her gaze to see Renji and the other two captains knocked down on the ground.

"This is so not a good time to have a perverted mind..." Mika muttered as she stared at the three captains slowly standing up.

The captains were a good sixteen or seventeen feet away from the two girls but they could clearly hear Renji apologizing frantically. The only reason why they were out in the distance was that because Rina and Mika were both being piggybacked by their captain, the force of the collision sent them flying away.

"Oh crap, Rina let's go!" Mika called out to her frantically, grabbed her arm and shunpoed away without Rina being able to ask why.

"What's the rush Abarai-taichou?" Ukitake asked him as Renji bowed down in apology for the 3rd time.

"Well uh... oh sh-t..." He cursed as he felt someone's reiatsu right behind him.

"Oh." Ukitake understood immediately what the rush was about. "Zaraki-taichou, your battle finished already?" Ukitake asked him casually – no hint of fear in his voice.

"Yeah. It was interesting alright but I don't feel quite satisfied about it yet." He answered gruffly with a smile on his face. "Then I sensed three high-level reiatsu's, who knew one of them would be Mika, huh?" He chuckled to himself. "Speaking of her, where is she?" He wondered out loud.

"What? Mika's right..." Renji pointed to where Mika once was. "SHE LEFT ME ALONE!!!?" He yelled out in disbelief.

"Hn... I haven't fought you in a while have I Renji?" Zaraki switched his target to the red-headed pineapple. Renji froze in his spot; did he hear what he just thought he heard? "And I haven't fought you yet have I, Kuchiki-taichou?" Zaraki's grin grew wider at the thought of having a three-way battle with two other captains. "And Uki... where'd he go?" Ukitake had disappeared leaving the three captains alone.

"Traitor." Renji scoffed under his breath at Ukitake's actions.

---

"Ok, stop, stop, stop!!" Rina yelled out in protest as Mika was dragging her away from where they once were by the arm. Mika stopped after realizing that they were no longer in danger.

"Oh sorry about that, you know, Zaraki and his crazed obsession... and Renji's uselessness." Mika muttered the last part silently to herself.

"Wonder where Tori is..." Rina wondered out loud trying to sense Tori's reiatsu.

"HERE I AM!!" Tori jumped out of nowhere and attacked the two from behind, knocking them down to the ground. "AND I'M A-OKAY!!" She pumped her fists into the air forming a peace sign at her two friends. They stared at her in envy.

"Why is it that after we go all out you're the only one that's not drained!?" Mika asked her suspiciously. "You've been practicing with your actual zanpakutou haven't you?" She questioned.

"What? Me? No! Of course not!" Tori waved her hand at such accusations. She kept the fact about her almost losing consciousness to herself though.

"Anyways... find a vizard, find an arrancar... find a way to unseal our powers..." Rina muttered staring at her hand.

"Maybe our pets will know what to do. They've been around FOREVER." Mika pointed out with the other two agreeing. "And then we have to find Yoruichi... she's the one going to get the Hougyoku right?" Mika asked them.

"Pretty sure, we'll know once we see Soifon-taichou." Rina nodded as they all looked up above them. Up above was a big fight with most of the captains and lieutenants battling against the top three Espada as well as their Fraccion.

"Maybe we can steal one of them... by the way, what happened to the vizard?" Tori wondered out loud.

* * *

"Whoa, everything's so different now!!" Shinji gawked at Seireitei that was currently in ruins. All the other vizards stared at him incredulously. It was a war; of course it'd look different!

"What did you think?!" Hiyori spat out. "It's been over a hundred years since we were here!!" She whacked Shinji on the head as she stormed off to the battle scene. Shinji grabbed his head in pain as he glared at the angry midget walking away from him. "Hurry it up, will ya!" She yelled out at the rest of the group.

"Yes ma'am..." Shinji grumbled as he followed Hiyori as did the rest of the group.

* * *

"Wow... this is what happens when we leave, mass destruction." Tori commented at the sight before her. "So how's it going Kira?" She asked the lieutenant who was currently busy with healing Rangiku and also had to tend to Hinamori after. They weren't too far from the battle scene but still had a barrier cast around them to make sure that the healers weren't the ones being healed.

"I'm busy here! How do you think everything's going?!" He spat out as he concentrated on saving Rangiku's life. Her wounds were without a doubt, serious. The right side of her body had been removed cleanly by Allon, the 'pet' of the three arrancar that Tori, Mika and Rina had successfully killed. "Ah, Rina help me out here with Hinamori!!" Kira begged to the lieutenant who was idly sitting by them, watching Kira freak out calmly.

"Why, what's wrong with her?" She asked looking over at the 5th Division lieutenant.

"Broken ribs, punctured lung; you've done this before haven't you?" He asked her. Rina stared at him expressionless.

"You seriously think I can heal that? Without any medical equipment?" She asked him. Kira gave her a cold look as Rina sighed and went to Hinamori's side.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Mika asked Rina who was staring off into space, wondering what to do.

"No clue." Rina responded.

"I-it's okay, I can wait." Hinamori responded weakly.

"She said she's okay!!" Rina yelled out to Kira; he was getting more and more irritated with her by the second. "Ah, that's right; we need to steal an arrancar with us..."

"That's right, who'd help us? I know Ulquiorra, Grimmjow and Yammy are on our side but they're MIA at the moment so..." Mika looked over at the three Espada fighting the captains furiously. "Let's go ask." Mika decided as she shunpoed into the fight.

"Oi, wait for us!!" Tori yelled out as she and Rina disappeared as well.

---

Oomaeda was getting smashed around by a pretty large arrancar while Soifon battled one of Barragan's Fraccion – Ggio Vega. He had a sabre-toothed tiger skull on his head which acted as a helmet of some sort.

"Is it alright to let your adjutant get smashed around like that?" He asked her with a smirk. Soifon merely laughed at his question.

"I don't mind. He's a bumbling idiot who only thinks of food, money, and his family's business. It'll be a good eye-opener for him to get knocked around a little." Ggio slashed Soifon once again only to have it blocked perfectly.

"Eh? How cold. Is that how shinigami do things?" He asked her as they kept clashing their weapons against each other's.

"I don't care for a division where everyone gets along. Some hostility between the subordinates and their superior is better suited for training."

"Is that so?" Ggio kicked sharply, just missing Soifon's head. Soifon wrapped one of her legs around his leg while the other one came around to kick Ggio's head hard, pounding him into a building. Her right hand shone a bright yellow as she drew a triangle with that hand; the points of the triangles turned to sharp points, looking very much like a bird's beak.

"Bakudou No. 30, Shitotsu Sansen!" The triangle flew over to Ggio's body and trapped him against the building. "It's over arrancar." She released her zanpakutou and prepared to kill him in two hits.

"Soifon!!" Tori screamed out as she suddenly appeared in between Ggio and Soifon. Soifon halted her movements as to not kill Tori as she stared at her in surprise. "Have you seen Yoruichi?" She asked her; completely oblivious to the arrancar that Soifon was on the verge of disposing.

"No I ha—Yoruichi-sama is here!?" Soifon's eyes widened as she too completely forgot about Ggio.

"Yeah, well I think so anyways." Tori scratched her head in thought. "At least I'm pretty sure Urahara said that she was going to get the Hougyoku..." She continued on while she scanned her surroundings. Eventually she looked behind her to see Ggio glaring at her. She blinked clueless as she peered and stared at the arrancar. "Who're you?" She asked him poking him on the nose.

"GAH!!" He roared out as he struggled to break free.

"GAH!!?" Tori took a step back to think about his name. Who would name someone "GAH!!"?

Ggio put his hand against the wall and fired a cero, which set him free. Tori and Soifon prepared to fight... it was more of Soifon preparing and Tori idly watching how things would go.

"Oh and, can I ask you a favour?" Tori asked the captain as she stepped in front of her again. "Can you call off your troops so we don't get killed off before we do what Urahara told us to do?"

Soifon stared at the girl. "I've called them off your case for a while now." She explained. "What did Urahara tell you guys to do anyways?"

"Oh you know, nothing big, just destroy the Hougyoku that's all." Tori responded brushing it off as if it was no biggie. Soifon lowered her guard as she gaped at what Tori had just said.

"You're going to destroy the Hougyoku?" She asked her.

"Pay attention will ya!?" Ggio appeared behind Soifon and swung his zanpakutou at her.

"I'M BUSY SHUT UP!!" Soifon turned around swiftly and punched him in the face before turning back to Tori. "Urahara himself couldn't destroy it. Wait, did he find a way to get rid of it?" She asked her.

Tori shrugged. "He told us what to do but he said he was only 53 percent sure that'd work. That's why I have to steal an arrancar and find a vizard... wonder where they are..." She tried to sense any of the vizard's reiatsu but couldn't detect any. Ggio tried another sneak attack approach only to have it ruined by Tori. "Who're you anyways?" She asked him again. "By the way I'm Shinboku Tori, nice to meet ya!" Tori held out her hand for a handshake. Ggio looked at her hand questioningly and confused.

"Uh... Ggio Vega, same to you..." He shook her hand confused at the situation. "Fraccion of Barragan-sama." He added on.

"YOU'RE GRANDPA BARRY'S FRACCION!?" Tori screamed out with a wide smile. "THAT MEANS HE'S HERE!!!" She cheered as she threw Ggio back and went to search for 'Grandpa Barry'.

---

"If Uki-kun's here... then that means..." Mika groaned seeing Ukitake near where Kyouraku was. She and Rina had decided to go off in search of arrancar that would help them. Tori had disappeared somewhere and now they couldn't find her.

"Should we run...?" Rina asked her.

"No wait, I don't sense Ken-chan near here... it should be safe... _should_!" Mika walked up closer to Kyouraku and Starrk with Rina following behind.

In Mika's opinion, Starrk was her favourite Espada, next to Ulquiorra. That was why she walked up to Starrk with no hint of fear while Kyouraku stared at her in disbelief at how calm she was.

"You guys are back!" Kyouraku exclaimed. "Where'd you guys go?" He asked Rina.

"Urahara's Little Shop of Horrors." Rina replied.

"I see... so what are you guys doing now?" He looked at Mika who was making a comfortable conversation with Starrk.

"On mission to destroy the Hougyoku."

"What!?"

"Yeah... so we need to steal an arrancar, you don't mind if we steal this one do you?" She asked him, pointing at Starrk.

"It's not that I don't mind... but it's just that..."

"No can do Mika!" Starrk bellowed out suddenly catching the two's attention.

"Why not?" Mika asked with a disappointed pout.

"Not feeling up to it, ask someone else." Starrk told her as Mika stormed off disappointedly.

"Fine, but don't blame me when Shun-chan kicks yer ass!!" Mika yelled out shaking a fist at him. "Come on, let's find someone else." She grabbed Rina's arm and dragged her off again.

---

"Barry, Barry..." Tori sang quietly to herself as she zipped around the area looking for the Espada. "Ah, Shiro-chan!" She saw Hitsugaya fighting Harribel a few feet away from where she was. "SHIRO-CHAN!!!" She screamed out joyfully as she headed straight for the scene. "Wait a minute..." She stopped and stared at the scene.

"Tori where'd ya go?!" Mika yelled out as she joined Tori. "Tori?" She waved her hand in front of Tori's face – no reaction.

"Ah." Rina pointed to the battle of Hitsugaya vs. Harribel. Mika looked over just in time to see Harribel slice off Hitsugaya's right arm.

"AHHHHHHH!!!!" Rina and Mika screeched in terror while Tori just continued to stare blankly at the scene. Both girls looked at Tori incredulously. Had she not seen what had just happened?

"Tori? Why aren't you screaming?! He just got his arm cut off!!" Rina yelled out at her pointing at the dismembered arm falling from the sky.

"That wasn't him." Tori responded. She twirled around and punched the air behind her.

"Oof!" Hitsugaya appeared and grabbed his stomach, doubling over.

"Huh? What the--?!" Rina and Mika were confused. They looked back over at the 'Hitsugaya' over there to see it crumble to ice shards. They turned their heads back to the real Hitsugaya to see him getting yelled at by Tori.

"How did you know?" He squeaked out as he staggered back onto his feet and looked at her.

"Cuz you're not that tall, duh! Even I know that!!" Tori yelled at him pointing at the remnants of his ice clone. When Tori had come close to the scene she noticed that Hitsugaya looked strangely taller for some reason. Hitsugaya gave her a blank stare as he grumbled some nonsense under his breath.

"Look out!" He yelled out as he jumped in front of Tori and blocked Harribel's attack. As he held Harribel back from killing them all he managed to squeak more questions. "Tori, where did you go? And why did your reiatsu spike up so suddenly?" He asked her.

"I was at Urahara's and I'm just strong okay? Accept it!" Tori swiftly answered the question. "Oh yeah, Harribel, think you can he—"

"No." Harribel responded without looking at her.

"'Kay looks like I'll have to rely on Grandpa Barry!" Tori chirped as she shunpoed off elsewhere.

"Oi, come back here!!!" Hitsugaya yelled out as he struggled to keep Harribel away. "Rina, Mika you guys... ditched too!!?"

---

"What the... I'm back where I started!!" Tori groaned at her hard work being wasted as she ended up back to where Soifon was. Barragan was now fighting her while Oomaeda looked on from a safe distance. He probably had tried to help but Soifon had kicked him out of the battle – this wasn't uncommon. "And... she has one arm this time... what the hell is with everyone losing an arm today!?" Tori wondered out loud remembering Harribel's three Fraccion who had ripped off their arms to create their 'pet', Hitsugaya's ice clone's arm slashed off by Harribel and now Soifon had a missing arm.

"Tori you're too fast!!" Rina complained as she and Mika finally caught up to her. "Is that... Barry?" Rina and Mika looked at the Espada who was a short distance away from them. The elderly Espada they had once known had turned to some walking-talking skeleton covered up with many dark robes.

"Only one way to find out." Mika spoke up suddenly as she marched up to the arrancar. She jumped in front of him and stared at the face intently. Barragan stared (somehow with those empty sockets) back at Mika.

"MIKA GET AWAY FROM HIM!!" Oomaeda hollered out to them – he was hiding behind a building. "HE'LL KILL YOU WITH HIS **BREATH OF DEATH**!!!"

"Breath of Death...?" All three questioned confused.

"WHY DO YA THINK TAICHOU HAS ONE ARM LEFT!?" He asked them. Mika looked back at the big-boned lieutenant. Soifon looked back and glared at him harshly as he cowered behind the safety of his buddy, the building. "I thought that it would be a good idea to warn them..."

"Are you really Barry?" Mika eyed him suspiciously until she was suddenly jerked back from behind. She was thrown back to where Oomaeda was hiding. Mika blinked surprised, not quite understanding what had just happened. "Did she...?" She pointed at Soifon who was standing in front of them while she asked Oomaeda this question. He merely nodded as he turned his attention back to his captain.

"You should probably leave this guy to taichou... although I'm not sure if she'll win or—" He stopped after seeing Soifon glare back at him once again. "Taichou will kick his ass for sure don't worry about it!!" He yelled out louder than he had to while sweating bullets.

"W-wait!! Barry think you can help us!?" Mika hollered out to the Espada. He ignored her. "What's his deal?" Mika asked disgruntled at his attitude. "And oldies say that _we_ are disrespectful!!" Mika scoffed.

"Why're all of Soifon's attacks slow?" Tori wondered out loud as she watched the ongoing battle. Every time Soifon got close enough to kick him or punch him her movements would drastically slow down. Barragan didn't have to move an inch.

"When did you guys get here!?" Oomaeda was surprised at the other two's sudden appearance. Mika glanced back at the two as well before looking back at the battle.

"Maybe she's getting tired...?" Mika offered as both Tori and Oomaeda shook their heads. They knew Soifon well enough to know that that wouldn't cause her to slow down so much. After all her shunpo was still amazing even after all the battles she had fought today.

"Ah, that's right." Oomaeda suddenly blurted out to the three. "That old fart said something about the form of death he ruled over." He suddenly remembered.

"Form of death...?" Rina wondered curiously. She had known the Espada for quite some time now as did Tori and Mika. They got along with most of them as well... at least they thought so; but never once had they mentioned this.

"Yeah uh what was it...? Something about it being the 10 main causes of death of humans, something like that..."

"Starrk is Isolation; Harribel is Sacrifice; Ulquiorra is Emptiness; Nnoitra is Despair; Zommari is Intoxication; Szayel Aporro is Madness; Aaroniero is Greed; Yammy is Rage; that old fart is Old Age; and mine is Destruction."

"Ohh... kinda makes sense..." Everyone turned to the owner of the voice to see a familiar blue-haired Espada standing behind them as if nothing was wrong with the picture. They all stared at him in disbelief while he looked at them like they were a bunch of weirdoes – which was true.

"What?" He asked them with a raised eyebrow.

"When did you get here?" Mika asked him.

"A few minutes ago... why?" He asked her.

"Oh I dunno maybe because we were LOOKING FOR YOU!!" Mika exploded at him as he took a step back from the girl.

"I was in Hueco Mundo, doing what Ulquiorra told me to do; trick the strawberry boy and the monkey man so that Soul Society would be weaker."

"What!? Oh now that you mention it they did go off somewhere else..." Rina remembered.

"Yeah, and now I'm here. _Sorry I didn't call_." He apologized in a mocking tone as Mika scoffed at him and walked away from him.

"Why did you come here then?" Tori asked him curiously.

"Hueco Mundo is boring okay!? There is no sunlight in there and all you can do is play some stupid game called 'Torture Tag'...? I think. Nel made us play it after a bunch of idiots told her how to play it."

All three girls glared at him before walking away from the confused arrancar.

"What?"

"We don't need him." They all muttered under their breaths as they started to walk off from their current location.

"You guys leaving already!?" Oomaeda yelled out in shock.

"MOVE!" Soifon shoved the three girls back to where her lieutenant and Grimmjow were. They all looked at Soifon with an incredulous look on their faces.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?" They shrieked out at her.

"IT'S HIS BREATH OF DEATH, DON'T YOU MORONS LISTEN!?" Oomaeda yelled out pointing at the gas that was coming from Barragan's mouth.

They all stared at the Espada.

"Are you sure he just hasn't eaten too many onions?" Rina asked him scratching her head doubtfully.

"You don't believe me? Okay then look at what it does!" He pointed back to the Espada who's 'Breath of Death' was dissolving whatever it touched. Again all three girls stared at it like it was nothing. "See!! That's why it's called the 'Breath of Death'!!" He waved his hands furiously at the deadly breath's affects.

"That's called what happens if you don't 'Brush and then use _Listerine_'" Tori told him with a straight face. She faced the Espada once more. "All you need to do is get some _Listerine_, a toothbrush, good toothpaste, floss, and breath mints and then it's gone! Geez Oomaeda, learn how to fight gingivitis!!" She scolded him before walking off into another direction.

"Sad excuse for a lieutenant; and they say _I'm_ an embarrassment!" Rina added on before following Tori.

"Here." Mika handed him a bottle of brand new _Listerine_. Oomaeda looked at her questioningly. She did not just give him a bottle of mouthwash! And why did she have it on hand? "Use it for the fight against gingivitis!!" She told him waving him off as she left with her other friends. Grimmjow stared at the three girls as they left leaving a serious atmosphere hanging around. He looked back at his Espada buddy one more time before leaving for somewhere else.

"Damn this place is weird." He muttered.


	20. Run, Run, Run!

_This chapter has a bit more vulgar words involved... sorry if you don't like that. _

* * *

"Uooooooaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!" Lilynette roared out towards Ukitake.

"Alright, bring it on!!!" He jeered at her as she dove in his direction. He sidestepped and she tumbled away. She got up and looked at his direction again.

"U-Uooooooooaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!" She roared out towards him, sprinting towards him at full speed.

"Still not good enough!!" Ukitake yelled out as he did the exact same thing he'd been doing for about 5 minutes now. She tumbled and tumbled until she came to a halt with her face kissing the earth and her butt hanging in the air.

"U... uu....u...u..." She attempted to shout out another battle cry, even in the position she was in. "Uwaaaaannnnn!!" She sobbed out towards the captain. "I'm gonna kill you!!" She wept as she sat up.

"THAT'S THE SPIRIT!!!" Ukitake cheered for her as Lilynette recovered instantly and started hopping up and down madly.

"Gimme back my swooooord!!!" She yelled out angrily.

"I can't do that!!" He replied with her zanpakutou lying at his feet.

"DIE YOU STUPID OLD FART!!" She screamed out at him. She charged at him once more.

"Your heart's not into it!"

"Uwaaaaaaaaa!!!"

"Uki-Uki, quit bullying her!!!" Tori screamed out as she whacked his head.

"Oof, wh-what...? When did you get here?" He asked her blinking surprised.

"Gimme back my swooooooord!!!" She screamed out again as Ukitake sidestepped once more.

"You're enjoying this aren't you?" Tori asked him. Ukitake only responded with a grin on his face. "You're so immature!" Tori sighed at him as she placed a hand on her forehead.

"Funny hearing that from you!"

"Haha SHUT IT!" She snapped out at him causing him to take a step back. "Have you seen Ulquiorra, Yammy, Yoruichi or any of the vizards?" She asked him keenly. Her eyes drifted past Ukitake's shoulder and laid on the feisty little arrancar called Lilynette. "Ooo, could I steal her for a bit...? Wait, is she even strong?" Tori wondered out loud causing Lilynette to scream in rage.

"I AM STRONG OKAY!? OKAY!? YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME?! ASK STARRK!!" She yelled out in rage shaking her fists at Tori.

"Never mind I'll find someone else..." Tori muttered before walking off.

"Okay, bye!!" Ukitake waved her off with a bright smile on his face while Lilynette cursed their names for the umpteenth time.

"Lilynette!!" Starrk yelled out suddenly, shocking the two people on the ground. Lilynette appeared by Starrk's side as he started talking to Kyouraku again. They were too far away from them so it was near impossible to hear what they were saying.

"Eh...? I'm stuck alone again?" Ukitake scratched his head as he realized that he was standing in the middle of nowhere, alone.

---

"Oi would you quit running away on us?" Mika scolded Tori as she found her way back to her friends. Tori shrugged as they continued on to ... wherever they felt like going to.

"Where're we going?" Rina asked suddenly as everyone stopped to think about this.

"I dunno." Mika shrugged. She froze up suddenly as the other two girls stared at her wonderingly.

"What?"

"Mika?"

"Run... RUN AWAY NOW!!!" She screamed out in terror as she grabbed the two's hands and jumped up onto a building while the pavement they were standing on was destroyed instantly.

"WHAT WAZ DAT!!!?" Tori yelled out in Mika as the dust started to settle. Tori got her answer as she saw who it was and somehow detected the reiatsu that she hadn't sensed before. "Why did he just do that?" She asked Mika.

"Cuz he sensed our powers jump up and wants to fight us..." Mika told them as she saw the faces of her friends go from confused to "oh f-ck my life".

"Yeah, why aren't we go-ING!!!!???" Zaraki suddenly jumped up to where they were and started swinging his sword around like a crazed maniac as the three sprinted away.

"RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN!!!!" Mika yelled out as they all ran away from the madman just a few feet away from them.

"DEAD END F-CK MY LIFE!!!!" Tori screamed out as she decided that she would destroy all dead ends as she smashed through the wall and miraculously made it out the other side without any wounds. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

---

**[Meanwhile, with the other fights...]**

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Could be heard out in the distance from where the Espada and captains were fighting at. They blinked confused as that had been the first noticeable scream of the day.

Starrk smirked at that as he looked back at Kyouraku. "Looks like we're winning." He told him. Kyouraku listened to the repeated screaming some more before coming to a conclusion.

"No, that's not your buddies causing that. It's one of ours... didn't know that he was that bored." Kyouraku replied with a calm smile as Starrk now had a look of confusion on his face. "That moron is gonna screw Soul Society up more than you guys will ever..."

"Man you guys are messed up!"

---

"WHY THE HELL DID WE COME HERE!?" Tori shrieked out as she and the others had run through Division 11. Sure there was barely anyone there because of the war that was occurring just a short distance away but that didn't mean that they weren't in danger.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHHHHHH!!!!" Zaraki cackled as he sped up faster and faster, pushing all the random people out of his way. He didn't even care if he destroyed his division!

"This way!" Mika directed the two as she turned a corner and barged into a room. She slammed the door shut as she panted for dear life.

"Why're you guys here?" Yachiru asked them as she looked up from her tea party with many stuffed animals.

"He... tha... #%$oidsijfiewjo3tijiow39jgbj!!" They all huffed out at once. Somehow Yachiru managed to translate it.

"Ohhh so Ken-chan is having fun... without me!?" She pouted at the thought of her faithful companion destroying things all by himself. "I'll help you guys then." Yachiru told them as she stood up and flicked off the lights making it pitch black dark.

"Why'd you do that? We can't see anything now!" Tori yelled out in the darkness. Yachiru and Rina formed a kidou light and Yachiru motioned them to head for the farthest corner of the room from the door. She 'shhed' them as they could sense Zaraki approaching fast.

"Found ya!!! Wait..." He paused. "Yachiru's room!?" He mumbled some curses under his breath as he paced around.

"Why isn't he coming in?" Rina asked the other three. "I didn't think he was _that_ polite!"

"Oh sh-t..." Mika cursed as she remembered something. "But last time it was Kyouraku, Rangiku and Gin... so that means that none of that was real..." She muttered this to herself.

"What wasn't real?" Rina asked her, clueless.

"You were in on the plan weren't you?" Mika asked her.

"I don't remember doing anything like that."

"What?"

"Yeah, so what are you talking about? And who the f-ck is breathing that heavily!?" She wondered out loud as she whacked whoever was behind her. It was furry. "...that better be a stuffed animal or a fluffy coat..." She said without moving a muscle.

"What is it?" Tori asked her.

"I dunno!" Rina replied through gritted teeth.

"OW!! Yachiru stop grabbing my hair!!" Mika hissed towards the pink-haired lieutenant.

"I'm over here!" Yachiru told her, who was two people away from Mika.

"It's not me!" Rina told her who she was standing beside.

"It's not me..." Tori whispered as fear took over all the sudden.

"Someone look back, I dun wanna!!"

"Let's move... okay? Yeah, let's move!" Yachiru decided as the group shuffled to the other corner of her room.

"Heeheeheehee..." A high-pitched giggle broke through the darkness.

"Yachiru, seriously don't get toys that make noises anymore!" Tori told her.

"I don't have any of those... Ken-chan doesn't like them."

"Then what was that?" Rina asked them as the giggle erupted again, this time much louder than the last.

"Heh?!!!!" Mika whined. "I don't like this!!" She cried out. Somehow, this was way more terrifying than being hunted down by Zaraki – who was still outside the door.

"Yachiru, can we turn the lights on now?!" Rina yelped out in fear.

"Yachiru?" Tori asked out loud only to have no reply.

"Where'd she go!?" They all shrieked, noticing that the pint-sized lieutenant was nowhere to be seen.

"Rina make the light bigger!" Mika offered. Rina did as told. "She's not here!!"

"Where'd she go!?"

"Eep!!"

"What?"

"No one move..."

"_**BOO!!"**_

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

They all bolted for the door and crashed through it, ran over Zaraki and split up into three different directions. They didn't know what was in Yachiru's room but to Mika and Tori it had NOT changed at all since the last time they were there. After that first time they had to go to therapy for healing sessions.

"Oi what the hell was that for!?" Zaraki roared out as he stood up. He froze seeing Yachiru's room wide open in front of him. Remembering what he had witnessed last time, he sped away not wanting to remember all the horrible times that he had lived through in her room. "Barney's not real, Barney's not real!!"

"Suckers!" Yachiru, Nariko, Shinn and Emiko emerged from the dark room with grins on their faces. It had been a _long_ time since they had seen fear on any of the shinigami's faces. It was totally worth it to play a prank on them despite the situation they were in.

"By the way, how did you do the heavy breathing thing?" Shinn asked Yachiru curiously, putting the voice changer away.

"...that wasn't me; I thought it was one of you guys!" She told them, pointing fingers at the other three.

"Nope" They all shook their heads as their faces paled. They looked back into the dark room, trembling slightly.

"Yachiru your room is scary!"

---

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Tori shrieked as she raced back to the battle scene without a thought in her mind. Anywhere was okay with her as long as she didn't have to go back to Yachiru's Room of Horror. She turned a corner and slammed into a door. "Oof..." She groaned as she stood up clutching her head. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" She continued screaming as she ran off, scaring all the people around her.

"TORI SHUDDUP!!" Hitsugaya appeared out of nowhere and stopped her from running and screaming. He was still in Bankai state which was very noticeable from the ice wings and the ice petals on/around him. "What's wrong with you!?" He asked her. "Wait, I already know."

"I thought you were still fighting." Tori told him, staring directly at him with a hint of confusion on her face.

"I am..." He muttered as he pushed Tori out of the way to block one of Harribel's sneak attacks. "Way to go Shiro-chan, you brought the fight to the division!" Tori rolled her eyes at him. Hitsugaya growled through gritted teeth as he pushed Harribel away. Yes, the fight had now descended to Division 10's courtyard – luckily no one was there thanks to Tori's screaming.

He looked over at Tori. "If you're so strong as you said you were, why don't you lend a hand?" He asked her. Tori hushed a giggle but Hitsugaya could hear it clearly.

"What's this? Shiro-chan is asking for help?" Tori faked gasped as she walked to where Hitsugaya was. "Damn I should've brought my camera this is epic!" She grinned as Hitsugaya stared at her strangely.

"I've asked you to help me with paperwork for so long and you finally listen to me now?!"

"Paperwork is bor – am I taller than you!?" Tori suddenly asked him as she swore that she was a bit taller than her captain.

"Wha!? No, that's ridiculous!! See!!?" He used his hand to mark his height – attempting to make it look like he was taller.

"Your poofy hair doesn't count for height!" Tori pointed out to him, pouting at his childish behaviour.

"It's not poofy! And I'm still taller than you!!" He argued to her, standing up straight. Tori did the same.

"Well guess what!?" She asked him rhetorically. "I've been drinking milk EVERYDAY and EVERYNIGHT – homo, 2 percent, 1 percent, chocolate, soy, and even skim milk!!" Tori told him, making herself look taller than he was.

"Oh wow!! Betcha didn't know that you grow more when you're sleeping!! I've been sleeping for 9-10 hours for the past three weeks, but you were having all night movie marathons weren't you!? HAH!!" He yelled out to her as Tori tried to think of something else to yell at him.

"Y-you... you... YOU'RE SHORT ACCEPT IT!!" She yelled out at him as he took a step back, not believing the words coming out of her mouth.

"YOU'RE SHORT TOO, OKAY!?" He retorted, losing his confidence in this argument slightly.

"Would you two **BEANS** shuddup already and pay attention you **PIPSQUEAKS**!!" Harribel yelled out suddenly causing the two of them to freeze. "Never was a fan of **DWARF** tossing but looks like I'll have to deal with it!" The normally calm Harribel had lost her patience and had spoken the unthinkable to the two shinigami in front of her. She was so dead.

"WHAT'D YOU CALL US!!?" They roared out infuriated. They clenched their fists tightly and reiatsu gathered up in them.

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE THE COOL ESPADA BUT YOU'RE JUST A JERK!! JUST LIKE GRIMMJOW!!" Tori yelled out at her with pure rage as somewhere off in the distance, Grimmjow sneezed.

"What the...?!" Harribel took a step back as these two shinigami's powers had just multiplied and reiatsu was still gathering in their fists.

"DON'T MOCK THE SHORT!!" They yelled as they fired their reiatsu-filled fists at her and punched her sending her 30 kilometres away, crashing through buildings and walls. The two panted heavily as they couldn't sense Harribel's reiatsu – either she had died or they had drastically weakened her. Hitsugaya disabled his Bankai and returned to normal; he turned to Tori with a much calmer look on his face.

"Wanna go out for milk?" He asked her as he hugged her shoulders and dragged her off to find a jug of milk.

"Sure." Tori nodded and walked off calmly; ignoring the destruction they had just created.

"Being short is awesome!!"

---

"DON'T YOU DARE TELL ANYONE ABOUT THIS!!" Ikkaku roared at Rina who was trying so hard but failed so miserably at stopping her laughter. He glared at her as she tried to contain herself so that they could speak like normal people... if that was possible.

"Okay, okay, I get it... pfft!!!" Her laughter returned as she grabbed her sides and fell to the ground. Ikkaku was getting real pissed at her. The door opened suddenly to show Yumichika walking in. He stared at the scene.

"What's going on?" He asked her. Rina pointed at Ikkaku's hand which had a rag in it. She pointed at Ikkaku's head which was really shiny. "Ohh..." Yumichika understood immediately. "Hahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!" He laughed at Ikkaku and pointed at him. "You actually DO polish your head!!" He ended up laughing loudly with Rina as he pounded his fists on the table.

Ikkaku gripped his hands tightly and glared at the two of them. "WHO THE HELL DO YA THINK YER TALKING TO!!?" He asked them, pointing his Houzukimaru at the two of them. They stared at him with a straight face when he had threatened them... but Rina failed to keep it up as her smile returned which led back to the laughter. "I'LL F-CKING KILL YOU!!" He yelled at her.

Rina staggered to her feet and somehow managed to tame her laughing fits. "Okay, how about we make a deal?" She asked him, motioning him to lower his weapon. "You help me with my zanpakutou and I won't tell anyone about this! I promise!!" She told him with a straight face. He looked at her doubtfully; since when could he trust her with that?

"I dunno... you see it's already a rumour; if people find out that it's real, people will forget about it in three days or something like that." He told her, declining her request.

"I'll blab to Zaraki that you have Bankai and put your name in to be a candidate for Division 3's captain." She snapped out suddenly – her childish demeanour disappeared. Ikkaku's face dropped – she had him where she wanted him. He pulled a childish face as he nodded while grumbling some nonsense.

"What's wrong with your zanpakutou?" Yumichika asked her.

"Oh it's just –"

"F-CKING AWESOME!!" A harsh voice ripped through the air.

"Oh sh-t..." Rina cursed as she jumped back, avoiding a fatal strike from none other than Zaraki. "I dun wanna fight you Ken-chan!" Rina whined as she decided her escape plan.

"Aw come on! Just one battle won't hurt, will it? Here, I'll give you the first strike – attack any part of my body." He offered. Rina looked at him like he was a moron.

"Why the f-ck would I do that?" She questioned him. She walked up to him to the point where he was a few steps away from her. "One shot right? You're not gonna be a dick and attack me when I hit you right?" She asked him for confirmation.

"Bring it." He smirked at her.

"You said so." Rina shrugged as she swung her leg and nailed his 'man's pride' hard. She bolted out of the room as Zaraki crumpled to the ground in pain.

"I'M GONNA F-CKING KILL YOU!!" He roared out and chased her down, seconds after recovering.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH F-CK MY LIFE, WHY ME!!!!????" Rina screamed out as Zaraki destroyed another wall as she ran through multiple divisions. She suddenly caught sight of her captain. "BYAKUYA HELP ME!!" She screamed out and hid behind his back, trembling slightly in fear.

"What did you do this time?" He asked her, sighing slightly. Rina gave him a look; why was it that whenever she asked for his help he ALWAYS assumed that she was at fault? She ducked behind him suddenly causing him to turn to whatever had scared his lieutenant. He sighed inwardly at the sight of Zaraki coming into view. "I should've known..."

"Well, well, well... what do we have here?" Zaraki grinned at the sight before him. "Both 6th Division's top-ranked members here to fight me!?" He cackled at the thought of this rare moment.

"Pfft, in your dreams!" Rina scoffed out suddenly. Byakuya elbowed her in the gut causing her to shut up.

"Kuchiki-taichou, you ran away from me last time. How about we settle this right here, right now?" He asked him as Rina stared at Byakuya once more.

"You ran away?" She asked in shock. She whacked his head, surprising both captains. "What happened to that honour and pride sh-t you kept talking about before huh!?" Byakuya glared at her slightly, something that he hadn't done to her in a while. "And can't you fight us some other time instead of now?!" She turned to Zaraki. "Why don't you fight Ikkaku? He has Ba—"

A hand slapped over Rina's mouth and muffled whatever she was going to say. It was Ikkaku that had shown up and had refrained her from blurting out his secret.

"_Barbie and the Three Musketeers_!!" He shouted out causing confusion amongst the group. "What happened to the deal we made, huh!?" He whispered to her threateningly. "Do you want me to help you or not!?"

"Ok, okay, jeez, don't need to be a dick about it!" Rina whacked Ikkaku's hand away from her as she looked back to the two captains who were staring at them.

"What did you say?" Zaraki asked him.

"I have... uh..." He scratched his shiny head. Everyone took notice at how shiny it was.

"Is it just me or is his head shinier than normal?" Byakuya asked Rina discreetly.

"Yup cause he p—" Ikkaku slapped his hand over Rina's mouth again. Rina glared at him and punched him for his actions.

"He what?" Byakuya asked her, completely ignoring Ikkaku's intervention. Ikkaku mouthed a death threat to her and slid his finger across his neck to signify what would happen to her if she told him.

"He p..." She looked at Ikkaku again to see him mouthing more death threats to her. "prays to kami (kami can mean God or hair)." Zaraki looked confused; Ikkaku had a look of pure relief on his face.

"He polishes his head?" Byakuya blurted out shocking the two 11th Division members.

"You do!?" Zaraki gaped at Ikkaku incredulously. Ikkaku mouthed a curse as he tried to slink away from the scene.

"How did you...?" He looked at Byakuya in shock.

"It's called skills, something you don't h-AVE!!" Ikkaku started lashing out at Rina with his zanpakutou and chased her away.

---

"Is that... really it?" Mika looked at the little box that contained the Hougyoku. Mika had somehow run in to Yoruichi along her way from Yachiru's Room of Horror.

"Yup." Yoruichi closed up the little box which had a bow on it for some reason and hid it from sight. "Where are the other two?" She asked Mika. Mika shrugged. She had lost them when she escaped. Yoruichi sighed. "No arrancar, no vizard, no Rina, and no Tori..."

"It won't be that hard to find them!" Mika assured her as she began tracing her steps.

"Then I guess I'll go search for Shinji or Hiyori or someone; meet me at 5th Division when you find them okay?" She told her.

"Why 5th?" Mika asked curiously.

"It's Ichigo's division, he won't mind!" Yoruichi told her with a grin before disappearing.

"So true!" Mika murmured in awe at how Yoruichi's mind worked. She suddenly understood why Soifon admired Yoruichi; at least she thought she did. She turned a corner and **BAM!** She fell to the ground. "WATCH WHERE YER GOING, DUMBASS!!" She yelled at whoever she had walked into.

"**YOU** WALKED INTO ME!!" A voice yelled back. Mika looked up to see Renji glaring daggers at her.

"Oh it's just you Ren-Ren." Mika muttered as she stood up and brushed herself off. Renji twitched.

"Ren-Ren...?" He hadn't been called this for a while so it sounded strange to him. "Hey Mika!" Renji shouted out to the female who was walking away from him. He caught up and walked beside her. "Why Ren-Ren?" He asked her. Mika looked at him with a 'what-are-you-talking-about' look. "I mean, why did you choose that nickname for me?"

"I could've used Jiji (old fart) but... ya know..." Mika pointed out. Renji took this into consideration and was somewhat thankful that Mika didn't call him Jiji instead of Ren-Ren. "So you ran away from Ken-chan?" Mika asked Renji. Renji cringed.

"Hey it's not like you stayed around to fight him!" Renji retorted remembering 'Mika's deceit'.

"SHUDDUP!!" Mika snapped out at him and maintained a glare with him.

"This reminds me of old times." Renji muttered as he kept his glare with Mika as they continued to walk to wherever they could with the way they were walking.

"Yeah, except this time we aren't cursed with the Pokey-Poke." Mika snickered slightly as she managed to keep her stare at Renji even after crashing into some random person.

"Don't remind me of that!"

"Why, scared it'll happen again?

"Pfft, yeah right! It was all an act you moron!"

"You were scared admit it Ren-Ren!"

"Damn you piss me off!"

"I love you too!"

* * *

Grimmjow: You called me a jerk!?

Tori: I'm sowwy (pouts cutely)

Grimmjow: (twitches)

Yachiru: It's okay, I luv ya Grimmjow!!

Grimmjow: (walks away)

Tori: Qui-Qui luffs ya too!!

Mika: Ikkaku polishes his head?

Rina: Yeah I know right?

Ikkaku: OI YOU AND I PROMISED NOT TO BLAB THAT OUT TO ANYONE!!

Rina: You said it didn't matter you moron!

Ikkaku: Ah... grah... iruowurpawuioifjiobjio3jr92u39ut9b ojdkjlakjlkj`!~!~!!~~!!!!!!

Everyone: ...

Mika: Rina don't cause him stress!! Stress causes hair loss and white hairs!!

Rina: ...whoops...


	21. Don't Say It!

_I was kinda pissed off when I first wrote this chapter so it's probably gonna seem more 'formal' and 'serious' but yeah... oh and this story is going to end soon, not sure how many chapters left but probs 5-10 left. But anyways, here you go!

* * *

_

"Don't you have to be somewhere...?" Tori asked Hitsugaya with a raised eyebrow as she stared at the captain's head. They were both relaxing in 10th Division's HQ, each with a glass of milk in their hands. Hitsugaya downed the milk and set the glass on the table with a satisfied sigh and shook his head 'no' at Tori's question.

"The oldies can handle the rest, there's only two more Espada or so to defeat." He explained. Tori brought the glass to her lips while staring at him incredulously.

"Uh-huh." Tori did the same and gulped all the milk down and set it on the table. "Psh. You can't use your Bankai anymore can you?" She smirked at him as he twitched ever so slightly. "No wonder you're here hanging out with me!" She exclaimed as Hitsugaya silently clenched his fists tight, trying to hold back his rage.

"I don't see you achieving Bankai!" He retorted childishly as Tori held back a giggle.

"Baka~" Tori flicked him in the forehead as she stood up from her seat. "I dun need Bankai to win my fights!" She jeered at him as she exited the room.

"OI TORI!!" He roared as he chased her down.

---

"Octopus!"

"Demon!"

"Funny Eyebrows!"

"Freakishly Long-Haired Woman!"

"Baboon!

"Sloth!"

"Red-Headed Pineapple!"

Mika and Renji were exchanging insults at each other as they walked through the battlefield of Seireitei. They glared intensely at each other as words kept spewing out of their mouths like a fountain of water. They had been doing this for at least 20 minutes now and obviously drew attention towards them as they walked and bumped into many random objects. They even encountered hollows and some arrancar, but they had completely ignored them as they stormed through Seireitei. Even though it looked as if they were really pissed off at each other, they were really doing this for fun – they were enjoying it. It had been a while after all, since they'd been able to spend 'quality time' with each other.

"GRR DAMMIT MIKA!!" Renji yelled out all the sudden after Mika called him '_Ultraman_ Freak'. "Who DOESN'T like _Ultraman_!?" Renji yelled at her in shock. Mika laughed evilly to herself at Renji's reaction. She and Renji both knew that Renji couldn't think of anymore comebacks.

"Is my hair really _that_ long?" Mika asked him as she examined a lock of her golden hair; once waist-length, now butt-length. "Maybe I should cut it..." Mika thought out loud as she tried to visualize how much hair she was willing to cut off without freaking out about it.

"What? But I like your hair!" Renji whined which obviously surprised Mika.

"I'll cut off some and give it to you as a present if you want!" Mika eyed him suspiciously as Renji backed off from that offer.

"I like your hair, but I don't like it _that_ much!" He reworded his statement. Mika sighed at his high-school boy attitude as she gathered all her hair into a ponytail and twisted it into a messy bun.

"Good, cuz then when I _do_ cut it, I won't have to hear you crying about it." Mika replied, poking him in the side which caused him to jump, startled.

"Don't do that!" He yelped out as he took several steps away from her. Mika grinned an evil grin while Renji cowered back in fear.

Suddenly a wall was smashed apart onto the ground; both shinigami froze in their tracks. They exchanged glances as they looked through the dust to see who it was. Zaraki? An Espada? _Barney the Dinosaur?_

"Ack!" Someone hacked out and started to cough uncontrollably. "I don't remember that wall being there!!" A man's voice yelled out as several other presences became known.

"Looks like Baldy Shinji's gettin' old!!" A girl's voice shouted out. Mika narrowed her eyes, she knew who was there.

The dust settled revealing Hirako Shinji getting his ass whooped by Sarugaki Hiyori. Mika's hand automatically flew to her zanpakutou's side; Renji noticed her behaviour. Several other people appeared; neither Mika nor Renji knew who they were but they were dressed differently than anyone else. They automatically assumed that they were with Shinji and Hiyori... that or Ichigo's friends that he never introduced.

"Stupid, stu~pid~ stoopid~ dickhead Shinji~" Hiyori jeered at the taller vizard as he cowered away in fear. Even though he was the former captain of Division 5 and Hiyori was the former lieutenant of Division 12, not once had Hiyori acted respectfully to Shinji – well at least all Shinji could remember were Hiyori's constant surprise attacks on him.

"**SARUGAKI!!!**" A voice roared out suddenly, capturing the two's attention. In a flash a blade was swung down at Hiyori but Hiyori had successfully blocked it with her own weapon.

"What the hell!!?" She yelled out as she was pushed back slightly by Mika's rage.

"Mika, what the hell are you doing!?" Renji hollered out but to no avail as Mika ignored him completely and continued to violently thrash her weapon at Hiyori.

"The f-ck's your problem, lady!?" Hiyori yelled out as she pushed Mika back.

"Oh-ho! Acting like the stupid idiot now are we?" Mika asked with a crazed grin on her face as she stared down on the vizard in red clothing. Hiyori stared up at Mika wondering who the hell she was.

"Are you saying that I know you?" Hiyori asked her, eyeing the blonde shinigami in front of her. Those blue eyes and golden hair reminded her of someone but she couldn't fully remember who it was.

"Huh?" Shinji took another good look at Mika's features once more. "You look like Jiro!" He exclaimed which caused Mika to freeze in her tracks. She looked to the side to look at Shinji.

"What?" She asked in a barely audible whisper.

"Don't tell me!" Shinji gasped as he suddenly remembered a picture of Mika when she was a child that Jiro had flaunted off proudly almost every day for 2 months before he told him to stop it. "Mika?" He remembered the name of Jiro's daughter. "Kurai Mika, you're Jiro's daughter right?" He asked her, taking steps towards her.

Mika eyed the man strangely – who was he and why did he know her name? Mika cautiously retreated slightly which caused Renji to step in between them.

"Who are you?" Renji asked him peering at the ex-captain.

"Hirako Shinji, former 5th Division captain." He introduced himself. "Haven't we met before?" Shinji wondered trying to remember any encounters with the red-head.

"I don't know any weirdoes... except for this one and two others." He pointed to Mika who gave him an annoyed glare.

"Ah!" Mika suddenly gasped out loud. "Urahara talked about you! You're the one who Zenni kicked out of Soul Society, right!?"

"Who the f-ck is 'Zenni'?" Shinji wondered out loud, not knowing anybody named ' Zenni'.

"She means Aizen." Renji informed him. Shinji responded with an 'ohhh' and nodded his head in understanding, though his eyes completely revealed that he didn't get it.

"Kurai?" Hiyori spat out; all attention was back to her again. "You're that dumbsh-t's kid?" Hiyori continued on causing Mika's anger to bubble and rise rapidly. Now she knew why her father wasn't on good terms with her.

"Shut up you little sh-t!" A man with an afro and dark shades punched Hiyori's tiny head into the ground. "Geez, we return after 100 years and you decide to start a fight!?"

"Love, you bastard!!" Hiyori screamed out as she stood back up and glared at her comrade. "You're lucky you're my friend, or else I woulda killed ya!" She threatened him as Shinji tried to stop the fight, but in the end he was the victim of abuse again.

Both Renji and Mika blinked confused at the sight before them. These guys were the captains and lieutenants of the Gotei 13? And Yamamoto thought that _they_ were messed up; how did he manage to deal with these oddballs?

"Let's go Mika." Renji decided as he pulled her over to the side and walked away silently.

"Those guys were vizards weren't they?" She asked him curiously. Renji looked at her confused... they were vizards? "Ah damn I kinda needed to grab one of them..." Mika muttered, looking back at the group of vizards that were slowly shrinking away from her sight. "Oh well, there's always Berry Man." Mika shrugged as she walked off with the confused Renji.

---

"What the--!?" Ichigo looked off into the distance sensing some familiar reiatsu's. "You're kidding me." He groaned as he recognized who they were. "Rukia, I'll be right back 'kay?"

Ichigo and Rukia were both resting at 13th Division's HQ. Ukitake was off somewhere and Kiyone and Sentarou were screaming their heads off at his wellbeing. Long story short, Rukia and Ichigo had a major migraine.

"Fine, leave me with these morons!" Rukia shed a fake tear as she 'moped' in her corner.

"Rukia, those acting skills may have worked when we were in school, but it's not working here." He told her with a blank look on his face. Rukia stopped immediately and grumbled some words under her breath as she tried to shut out anymore noise entering her head.

As Ichigo slid the door open, two kids ran in and ran straight to Rukia. Both shinigami looked at the two kids who were none other than their own – Shinn and Emiko. They were trembling slightly as they hugged Rukia's legs in fear. A few seconds later Yachiru showed up and began explaining everything to Rukia.

"I heard about your room..." Ichigo muttered remembering about some story that Mika had blabbed to him about Renji pissing his pants in Yachiru's room. He didn't know if that was true or not but it seemed like it was now.

"Eh? Wait a sec..." Yachiru looked around the room. "Where's Nariko?" She asked everyone in the room.

"She was right behind us..." Emiko spoke out as Shinn nodded. "What happened to her Shinn-nii?" She asked her brother worriedly for her older friend.

---

"You're going to get yourself killed one of these days, Rina." Byakuya warned his lieutenant after they had successfully evaded Division 11's madmen.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it." She grumbled as they made their way through the labyrinth of streets.

"Rina-neechan!!" A child's voice rang out as the lieutenant stopped in her tracks. In a blink of an eye Nariko and Hiroshi had appeared in front of her.

"Why're you guys here...?" Rina asked them confused as Nariko climbed off Hiroshi's back and walked over to Rina with something in her hand. "What's this?" Rina asked Nariko as the little girl had handed something to her. Rina took a look at the object to find out that it was the lieutenant's badge that she had chucked away in the secret underground chamber. Somehow Nariko had discovered it too.

"Looks like you're lucky." Byakuya commented as Rina eyed the badge in her hands doubtfully. Rina held up the badge up to Byakuya's eyes suddenly. He switched his glances between the object and his lieutenant. "What?"

"Do you think that I still deserve to wear this?" She asked him. He gazed at her after hearing her words; his eyes boring into her soul. He heaved a deep sigh and took the badge out of her hands. He grabbed Rina's arm immediately and pulled her over to his side. He started to tie the badge back onto her arm. She looked at him curiously.

"I chose you as my lieutenant once, and I'd do it again. You've deserved to be called a lieutenant regardless of what people had thought before." He answered her question as she ran her fingers over the grooves of the badge.

"You do realize that you've screwed yourself over until you retire right?" Hiroshi suddenly barked out causing Nariko to growl at the wolf.

"You're ruining a moment!" She scolded the wolf.

"By the way," Byakuya started. "Where did you find it?" He asked Nariko as Rina's eyes grew to the size of saucers as her movements froze.

"It wasn't that hard to find." Nariko shrugged. Rina shook her head slightly at Nariko trying to convey her thoughts to her niece. Nariko stared at her strangely, Byakuya noticed her behaviour too.

"What's wrong?" He asked her.

"N-nothing... nothing's wrong!" She stammered out, trying to keep her cool. "It was probably under some rubble right, **Nariko**?" Rina sent a harsh glare to the girl, emphasizing her name to try and get her point across. Nariko rolled her eyes at this.

"Yeah, yeah it was." She responded, sending back a glare that read 'you so owe me b-tch!' Rina responded with an annoyed pout but got the message.

"If you say so." Byakuya muttered as he started to walk off. Rina sighed in relief as she had once again dodged the subject. If anyone else had discovered the secret underground base, they were screwed beyond thought.

"Nariko, how'd you find that place?" Rina asked her niece through gritted teeth, silently as she didn't want Byakuya to hear them.

"You think that I don't know where you disappear to when you don't want to do work?!" Nariko hissed out at her.

"I don't like your attitude missy!" Rina hissed back as Nariko 'hmphed' and looked off to the side defiantly. It was like Tori had said, kids are nice and cute when they were tiny, but when they grew up... you couldn't help but hate them at times.

Byakuya glanced back at the two girls and the oversized wolf. Unbeknownst to them, he had heard every single word despite the fact that they were trying to keep it under wraps.

"What the?"

Byakuya turned around fully to see Rina and Nariko stare in shock at something to their side. He looked in their direction to see what had caused them to stop.

"YOU!" Grimmjow pointed a finger at Byakuya at realization.

He still remembered the fight he had with Byakuya, long, long ago which resulted in Byakuya's Bankai being used. In a flash Byakuya stood in front of Rina, remembering what Grimmjow had done.

"Why're you still here?" Rina asked him with a blank expression on her face.

"Cuz..." He answered half-heartedly.

"Go home already!" Rina yelled out at him which caused Hiroshi to nudge her.

"You need an Espada to destroy the Hougyoku right?"

"How do you know this?"

"Why not get him to help!?"

Rina looked up at Grimmjow again, reconsidering the thought.

"Did I tell you how he called 'Torture Tag' stupid?" She asked the wolf; he gave no reply.

"It **IS** stupid!"He barked out as Rina glared at him.

"Told ya." Grimmjow smirked.

"It is not!" Rina retorted, offended at the fact that two beings had called the game that she Mika and Tori had created out of sheer boredom, stupid.

"It is stupid, now would you mind explaining what is going on?" Byakuya intercepted, shutting his lieutenant up. She gave him an annoyed look before explaining the minor details to him.

"...If you need an Espada, why not use him?" Byakuya asked her after Rina had explained some things to him. She gave him a 'you're kidding me' look before turning back to Grimmjow who was just standing there.

"I dunno..." She mumbled sceptically at having Grimmjow help them. "I'd prefer Qui-Qui over him any day."

"OI DO YOU WANT MY HELP OR NOT!?" Grimmjow roared out angrily and impatiently.

"No..."

"YES WE DO!!" The other three yelled out, pushing Rina to the side.

---

"Yoruichi?"

"You guys sure are enjoying your time here." She replied to Shinji and the other vizards who were surprised to see her. "We don't have time to waste, let's go!"

"Uh okay..."

"By the way you haven't seen any of the three dimwits have you?" Yoruichi asked the group of vizards once they had set off to 5th Division.

"Three dimwits...?" Rose mumbled tiredly. "You mean..." He pointed to Shinji, and then Hiyori.

"Who's the third one?" Kensei asked him quietly.

"Uhh..."

"Looks like it's you..." Lisa rolled her eyes at the former 3rd Division captain. "Huh?" She looked over into the distance. "Tch..." She disappeared in a blink of an eye and left the group heading for that very direction.

"OI LISA! GET YOUR BUTT BACK OVER HERE!!!" Shinji screamed out in annoyance.

"Let her go, she has her own business to attend to." Love told off Shinji who muttered some gibberish in response.

---

"Uh-oh..." Tori looked behind her to see no one following her. She tried to sense her captain's reiatsu to come up with nothing. Either he was concealing his reiatsu or that she had really outrun him this time. "Oh well, more free time for me!" She shrugged off as she calmly walked on with no destination planned in mind.

"DON'T THINK YOU'VE GOTTEN RID OF ME JUST YET!!" A barbaric voice rumbled out as the wall smashed over and a blade came shooting out of the dust.

"Whoa!!" Tori dodged swiftly as she decided to go higher where she could get a better view of her situation. Harribel walked out and glared at the shinigami. "Ah~ so the 'Puny Punch' didn't work on her after all!" Tori sighed in disappointment as Harribel advanced towards her. Harribel swung her sword at Tori only be blocked successfully by her own zanpakutou.

"What happened to that runt of a boyfriend you have huh?" She asked darkly causing Tori's lips to curl up into a twisted smirk.

"Wow that's the first time someone called him a runt!" Tori held back a laugh as Harribel eyed her suspiciously.

"WHO'S THE RUNT!?" Hitsugaya showed up suddenly and launched an ice dragon at Harribel. It pushed Harribel away from the scene but they both knew that that wouldn't stop her. Hitsugaya turned to Tori with a glare. "Why are you smiling so much?" He asked her.

"What? Can't I be happy to see the person that I love the most isn't dead?" She asked him causing him to raise an eyebrow at her.

"TORI!" He yelled out suddenly with wide eyes as Harribel appeared right behind her with her zanpakutou raised above her head.

"That's my name!!"

"DIE!!"

"What!?"

She was slashed diagonally across the back from Harribel's weapon and started to fall.

"Idiot!" Hitsugaya muttered as he quickly grabbed Tori and shunpoed out of the area.

"Whoa what happened!?" Tori's head jolted up and she looked ... perfectly fine?

"What the...?!"

"Ohhh looks like you caught me..." Tori pouted disappointed while Hitsugaya pinched himself just to make sure that he wasn't in some twisted, messed-up dream.

"Why're you...? Wha?" He was speechless.

"What?" Tori asked him confused.

"You were attacked and you're bleeding!" He shouted out at her.

Tori blinked innocently up at him. "Ohhh so **that's** why it stings!!" Tori gasped in realization as she put two and two together.

"YOU. ARE. MESSED. UP."

"I know!!"

---

"WAKE UP!!" Lisa stomped on Kyouraku's body causing him to jolt up in surprise. She growled slightly at her former captain who was playing dead on the battle scene.

"Lisa-chan?" He looked up at her in shock. "You've been doing well these past years haven't you!?"

"Yadoumaru-san?" Ukitake walked over to the two. "It's been a while! How have you been doing?" He asked her with a joyous look on his face.

A hollow jumped out suddenly causing Lisa to activate her hollow mask and she destroyed it swiftly as more and more surrounded her.

"... Can we get an answer...?" Both captains asked her feeling heart-broken at the fact that she had just ignored them. She paid no mind to them as she destroyed hollow after hollow, arrancar after arrancar.

"Quit lying around and do something you useless old man!!" She barked out at her former captain. Kyouraku got back up onto his feet and faced Starrk once more.

"Looks like you haven't changed." He commented with a smile on his face.

"Same to you." She responded. Ukitake walked away quietly, feeling quite left out and awkward (someone hug him!!).

"Wait..." Ukitake stopped in his tracks. "If you're here... then that means..."

---

"WHAT!? WHY DO I HAVE TO WORK WITH A DICKHEAD LIKE YOU!!?" An angry little Hiyori (typical) roared out and crossed blades with Mika once again.

"OI YOU GUYS!!!" Renji shouted out at them from down below on the ground where everyone else was watching.

"Give it up Renji... they'll never hear you." Yoruichi told him as she looked up at the two.

"How sweet~!" Mashiro cooed out. "Jiro's legacy lives on!!" She clenched her fist tight with her eyes filled with flames of passion.

"Uh..." Renji could only say that. After all, he and Mika were bombarded by Yoruichi's army of weirdoes and before he knew it, Hiyori and Mika were at it again.

"I'm Kuna Mashiro~!" The green-haired, white-spandex-wearing vizard saluted to him. "9th... er or should I say former 9th Division lieutenant!!" She saluted once more as Renji exchanged a scared look to Yoruichi.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it." Yoruichi told him quietly.

"Muguruma Kensei, former 9th Division Captain." The silver-haired muscular vizard stepped forward and introduced himself. He seemed more normal than his lieutenant.

"Uh... Abarai Renji, current 9th Division Captain..." He introduced himself cautiously. "Nice to mee—AGH!!" Renji was about to shake hands but withdrew it instantly as Mika's zanpakutou nearly missed chopping off his hand. "MIKA!! WATCH IT WILL YA!!" He yelled up to Mika who quickly descended and wrenched her zanpakutou back into her hands.

"HIYORI YOU LITTLE BEYOTCH!!" Mika roared out as she was about to leave but Renji stopped her this time. He grabbed her by her long, dishevelled hair and yanked her back to where he was. She glared at him as she tried to pry herself free from him.

"YOU CAN KILL HER LATER; WE HAVE STUFF TO DO NOW!!!" He yelled out at her.

"IT'S NOW OR NEVER MORON!!! AND I SAY NOW!!" She retorted while more insults were yelled out at each other.

"Um... she isn't by chance, 9th Division's Lieutenant is she?" Rose asked Yoruichi out of curiosity.

"Mika?" Yoruichi asked bewildered at such a question. "No! She's the third seat and is Renji's girlfriend." She informed the group. "The lieutenant is Hisagi Shuuhei."

Speak of the devil, Hisagi arrived.

"RENJI, MIKA SHUT UP!!" He roared at the two, wrenching the two away from each other. Their glares held strong as Hisagi somehow managed to keep them from clawing at each other. "Geez, what kind of couple are you guys!? Getting into stupid fights and stuff." He shook his head at the two of them as they both blinked bewildered at Hisagi's comment.

"Who said our fights are stupid?" Renji asked him, pushing Hisagi's hand away from his head. "THEY HAVE MEANING!!"

"YEAH!!! DON'T BUTT IN ON THINGS YOU'RE NOT A PART OF!!" Mika replied, shoving Hisagi's hand away from her head. "HIYORI!!!"

"I TOLD YOU TO DO THAT LATER!!!"

"SHUDDUP YOU BABOON!!!"

"They'll never get it..." Hisagi grumbled as he trudged past Yoruichi and the group of vizards.

"Wait a minute!" A vizard stopped him by grabbing his shoulder and turning him around. That vizard was Kensei; he looked at Hisagi's face, inspecting it with his eyes. "Have I met you before...?" He wondered out loud, eyeing the '69' tattoo on Hisagi's cheek. He had the same tattoo right under his chest area. Hisagi looked at the vizard. He remembered some things from his childhood and looked up at him with wide eyes.

"You were the shinigami that saved my life back then!"

"Ah! So you were that kid!!" Mashiro butted in, peering at Hisagi's face. "Wah~ such a cute little kid grew up into a heartthrob!!" She 'kya'ed at the thought of it as Kensei pushed her away.

"So you were that kid... and you're a lieutenant now too" He eyed the lieutenant's badge tied around his arm. "Do me a favour and do a better job than her!" He pointed at Mashiro who was 'kya'ing over random things.

"You guys can have this discussion later, can't you?" Yoruichi asked them with a bored face. "Ah, whaddya know, it's Lil' Byakuya and Rina!" Yoruichi turned her attention to the 6th Division Captain and Lieutenant, Hiroshi, Nariko and Grimmjow. Yoruichi looked at Grimmjow before turning her eyes back to the two shinigami.

"It wasn't my idea okay!" Rina pointed at Grimmjow, still ticked off at the fact that he had called 'Torture Tag' stupid.

"All I asked for was an arrancar and you have one, what's the big deal?"

"Told ya." Nariko coughed out to Rina subtlety.

"RENJI MOVE IT!!"

All attention was turned back onto the 'Odd Couple' as they continued yelling at each other again only to raise the volume. Hiyori was staring at them on the sidelines as were the rest of the vizards.

"Can you stop them?" Yoruichi asked Rina for help.

"I can try but I can't guarantee that it'll work..." She stepped forward and walked over to the arguing couple. "Mika! I found _Ponyo_ on DVD!!"

"WHY ARE YOU—OMG ARE YOU SERIOUS!!?" Mika screeched out suddenly at Rina and started screaming in joy and jumped up and down in excitement.

"... Are you serious?" Mostly everyone gawked at how simple it was to stop Mika from yelling at Renji.

"Hey it's you!!" Shinji pointed at Rina after he remembered her from when he helped her fight Nnoitra when she was in Karakura. She blinked at him confused, who was he?

"Um... who are you?" She asked him as Shinji gasped in shock. "Mika who is he?" She asked her afterwards.

"The guy Zenni kicked out of Soul Society... um..." Mika paused, trying to remember his name. "What's your name again?" Shinji crumpled to the ground with a thunder cloud swirling around his head. "O...kay..."

"Hirako Shinji!" Renji yelled out. "Geez, even I know it!"

Mika gave Renji a look.

"Are you starting something?!"

"Mika, you can do this later!" Rina interrupted her.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"What the!? How come you didn't listen to me!?

"Why should I!?"

"MIKA!"

"Don't worry Rina!!"

"Rina?" Shinji raised his head at once. He knew of someone named Rina, but the one he knew was his former subordinate's – Tsukiyomi Tatsuya's – daughter. He looked at her again but couldn't find much similarity in terms of looks from her to her father. "Hey." He poked Yoruichi. "She isn't Tatsuya's kid is she?"

"Rina? Yeah that's Tsukiyomi's kid." Yoruichi replied much to Shinji's shock. "Wait, you helped her out without knowing who she really was?"

"Yeah... WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME!?" He screeched out suddenly causing Yoruichi to take a step back.

"You never asked!!" Yoruichi yelled back causing everyone to stare at them.

"Oi Yoruichi!! You told me to stop Mika and Renji yelling at each other but now YOU'RE yelling!? Seriously what do you want woman!?"

"I thought she was a cry baby" Shinji stared at her wide-eyed.

"You WERE?!" Renji snorted out trying his hardest to not laugh at the lieutenant.

"Wanna say that again!?" Rina glared at Renji deathly causing him to shut up instantly.

"Yep, that's Tatsuya' kid. She has his temper." Rose nodded, making the connection to her and her father. "Wait... Tatsuya hated Kuchiki..." He stared at Byakuya as did most of the vizard.

"Must be hell for you day-in and day-out huh?" Shinji asked Byakuya casually apparently 'feeling his pain'.

"Hell?" Yoruichi blurted out. "How would it be? He gets to see his girlfriend everyday!" Yoruichi informed them, shocking them all. "Oh wait, is that a bad thing for guys?" She asked them after realizing that it probably didn't seem good for some people.

"Are you serious!?" Shinji had his jaw dropped and looked between both captain and lieutenant of Division 6. He knew how bad Tatsuya hated the Kuchiki's – especially Byakuya – how did this pairing ever happen? "Wow, how long now?" He asked them, suddenly getting involved in the subject.

"SHINJI WHO CARES!!" Hiyori was back on the scene as she kicked Shinji's head into the ground. She paused for a second with silence following her. "WHY AREN'T YOU RUNNIN OVER HERE TA KILL ME!!?" Hiyori yelled out at Mika, pointing a finger.

"...I can do that later..." Mika responded, apparently getting the message from both Renji and Rina to fight Hiyori later.

"Wh... what!?"

"Hiyori, it's very sad to say but Mika is more mature than you are." Rose told her.

"WHADDYA SAY!?"

"Hahahahahah—wait what's that supposed to mean!?"

"WAIT!" Shinji yelled out, his head bursting up from the ground. "If both Tsukiyomi and Kurai are here... how about Shinboku!?"

Just as 'Shinboku' was spoken, Tori arrived on the scene with Hitsugaya close behind.

"MOVE IT!" They yelled out to the vizard as they shoved past them to escape Harribel's wrath.

"Is that her?" Shinji pointed to Tori. Yoruichi nodded. "I KNEW IT!!"

"How? You've never met her nor seen her before!" Love asked him.

"Easy, she's the short kid!" Shinji beamed as Tori froze and slowly looked into his direction.

"TORI, HAPPY THOUGHTS, HAPPY THOUGHTS!!!" Rina and Mika screamed out desperately as Tori forgot about everything and made a beeline for Shinji – Shinji still hadn't noticed that he had spoken the taboo word. "SHIRO-CHAN STOP HER!!!"

"TORI, NOW IS NOT THE TIME!! KICK HIS ASS LATER!!"

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU SAY YOU OLD FOGIE!!?!!" Tori sped over to his side and landed a well-earned punch to his head, sending him crashing through a nearby building. His body hung limp from the destroyed walls as rubble fell off of his body.

"I think she killed him..."

"Hah... hah..." Tori panted heavily as she glared at her victim's body.

"Tori?" Mika and Rina advanced towards her slowly. Everyone was staring at Tori in shock and in fear.

"What was that?" Mika asked her.

"Puny Punch." Tori answered as she brushed some of her bangs out of her face. She saw Rina's and Mika's confused faces. "It's a short-person attack. Only short-people can use them, sorry." She told them before walking back to Hitsugaya and Harribel.

"Mika, I'm scared!"

"You're scared of that?" Hitsugaya asked them. "Wait til you see the 'Chibi Chomp' then you'll be scared!"

"NO ONE CALL THEM SHORT!!!"


	22. Beyond MessedUp

_Unrelated-ish to this story but I've re-edited my last two stories - nothing major has changed just fixed some grammatical errors, fixed arrancar's names, and made some things more clearer (b/c even I couldn't understand it...) than they probably were. But anyways here is the next chapter!!_

* * *

After Tori had cooled down about Shinji's stupid remark, the group headed over to 5th Division. Why they couldn't do their business at where they once were was a mystery but Yoruichi insisted that they go to Ichigo's division since 'he wouldn't care'. Shinji had miraculously survived Tori's fist but he kept a long distance away from her and had his mouth shut ever since. Just to be on the safe side, Hitsugaya stayed close to Tori – just so that he could attempt to stop her from possibly murdering someone.

Along the way however, Hacchi, Rose, Love, Kensei, and Mashiro had left the group due to the fact that many hollows and arrancar had gotten in their way. So that meant that basically Shinji and Hiyori were the vizards left with the group.

"Didn't Urahara say that we need to unseal our 'powers' for this thing to work?" Tori wondered out loud.

"Ah! That's right!" Yoruichi slapped her head from forgetting this important fact. "How do we do that?"

"You don't know?" Shinji gasped at Yoruichi's blunder.

"Not like you do." Hitsugaya retorted.

"That's true..."

"Wait, do we really have to?" Mika asked everyone.

"Well, yes, if we want to pull this off." Yoruichi told her. "Do you guys really think that by using your own power alone that you can destroy the Hougyoku, even with the help of these guys?"

"...You never know!!"

"You guys actually believed that we could destroy it, why bother asking this question now?" Rina asked her.

"Believe me; the Hougyoku might be easier to destroy than you think." She explained to her. "It's already fragile enough thanks to Aizen's constant use of the Hougyoku. And using the combined power of an arrancar's and vizard's cero or bala or whatever, the intensity of the attacks combined with three of the strongest elements should destroy it – if not then, too bad."

"Gee... thanks..."

"Wait, if it doesn't work, then what happens?" Renji asked wonderingly. He hadn't heard of the consequences from Mika.

"Instant death, severe injuries or they turn to part hollow." Shinji told them. "We're already part hollow so it doesn't matter."

"You guys never told us that!" Hitsugaya snapped out at Tori.

"...whoops..."

"WHOOPS!? Don't you think that's kinda important!?"

"Well when you put it that way..."

"Don't worry about us!" Mika assured the three worried captains. "You know what they say, idiots don't die!"

"...That kinda helps us but you just dissed yourself, you do realize that right?" Renji asked her.

"Psh, what's your point?" Mika shrugged off Renji's point. "Besides at least I know that you guys won't die either!"

All three captains narrowed their eyes at Mika. Even at such a time, she somehow managed to squeak out an insult.

"You guys are all idiots, there's nothing to worry about! Now back to our problem!" Yoruichi butted in causing glares to be cast her way.

"You can leave that with us." Hiroshi walked forward as Isamu and Daichi appeared out of nowhere.

"What're you guys gonna do?" Mika eyed the bat suspiciously as no answer was given except a sudden bite on her right forearm. "AAAH WHAT THE HELL WAS TH--!!"

"Oi Isamu!!! What're you--!?" Hiroshi snapped his jaws on Rina's right hand.

"Holy f-ck we're gonna die!!!!!" Tori screeched out only to be shut up by Daichi's snake tail lashing out at Tori's shoulder, its fangs sinking into her arm.

"WHAT'RE YOU GUYS DOING!?"

A sudden surge of reiatsu burst through; red, blue and green reiatsu swirled in sending in overpowering gusts of wind, pushing back any bystanders.

"What the hell happened?!" Renji roared out as he tried to peer through the swirls of reiatsu.

"**KUCHIKI!!"**

"**SARUGAKI!!"**

Both mentioned people's eyes widened as blades came flying out at them; the clash of blades rang out throughout Seireitei.

---

"What is that?!" Oomaeda looked off into the distance, seeing a strange swirl of reiatsu off in the distance. The power of it was incredible – he bet anything that Zaraki would get there first. "Soifon-taichou!"

"I know!" She barked back as she kept her eyes on Barragan. Hacchi was off to her side – he was offering assistance but she refused it. Regardless of that, he had cast many barriers around Barragan in attempts to subdue him.

"Soifon-san!! Please lend me your strength!!" He pleaded the captain who was trying to ignore him. "I need the power of your Bankai!!"

"…That obnoxious moron even leaked out knowledge of my Bankai to him…" Soifon grumbled quietly to herself.

Her Bankai was something she was not proud of. She preferred her Shikai to her Bankai because it could be easily hidden whereas her Bankai was something as large as her. She found it to be a disgrace because she was the captain after all, of the Onmitsukidou and Keigun troops – both teams requiring 'ninja' skills.

"I know that you do not want to join forces with us, since we have a connection with Urahara-san. But, surely you understand!! Now is not the time to be saying those sorts of things!!" He continued to beg to the captain. He was met with the cold shoulder from Soifon, yet again. "…alright, fine…" He muttered, seeing as how his pleads would not be answered with simple sucking up. "In that case name your terms."

Barragan was getting bored; he was trapped in a box created by kidou barriers of odd shapes and sorts.

"Do you think you can contain me in something like this!?" He cackled out, laughing at Hacchi's plan to subdue him by simply creating a box around him.

"The true purpose of that barrier is not to contain you." Hacchi replied quietly.

"…what?"

Hacchi explained some things to Barragan that he had previously stated about his powers of 'age'. Hacchi had devised a plan that could possibly defeat Barragan – though he still had some uncertainties about it. The barrier opened up slightly, allowing Soifon to aim in at that spot with her Bankai.

"Swear it again." She turned to Hacchi one last time. "Swear that tomorrow you will imprison Urahara Kisuke within your barrier for one month!!"

"I swear it."

"Alright." A smile crept up on Soifon's face. "Jakuhou Raikouben!" An enormous blast erupted within the barrier that had contained Barragan.

* * *

Back down in Karakura, Urahara had a sneezing fit. Tessai, Jinta, and Ururu looked at him concerned. Urahara sniffled and muttered some things to himself. He had a strong, strong feeling that someone was talking about him, and that it wasn't a good thing.

"When's Yoruichi coming back?" Urahara asked out loud, sensing a bad premonition.

"She left a few hours ago; I doubt she'd be back so soon." Jinta informed Urahara who groaned at that response.

"Something bad is going to happen – I know it!"

* * *

"Dammit, what was that!?" Yoruichi wondered as she had to retreat quite a distance away from where the three girls once were.

The large reiatsu that surrounded the area was overbearing to say the least. Then again, that was to be expected after all – the powers of three clans all in one place. She made sure she still had the Hougyoku in her possession. They had to destroy it before anyone else could get their hands on the tiny little object. She knew for a fact that once the powers of the three girls' families were unleashed, it could only be used once. For how long, she didn't know but it was most likely in a limited time frame. She then remembered hearing "Kuchiki!!" and "Sarugaki!!" from amidst the reiatsu blast and then blades clashing. Something didn't make sense to Yoruichi.

---

"Grimmjow, what the hell are you doing!?" Harribel asked Grimmjow. They were currently battling each other soon after Harribel realized that Grimmjow was harmlessly following the shinigami around. She was a loyal supporter of Aizen; seeing Grimmjow's friendly act around the enemy was enough reason for her to call him a traitor.

"Heh. What does it matter to you?" He sneered at her. He knew that Harribel was the 3rd strongest Espada and that it was better off to avoid making her fight to her full extent. He was lucky that she had already fought a bunch of people before him. Harribel was quite worn out but that didn't mean that she didn't overpower him.

Harribel narrowed her eyes at Grimmjow. His cocky attitude really pissed her off, even though she never showed it when they had resided in Las Noches.

"Unforgivable." She used her Sonido to get behind Grimmjow and attempted to stab him only to be stopped by another blade. Her eyes widened in shock.

"What is a useless piece of trash doing here? I thought you were playing that stupid game with Nel."

Grimmjow glared at his 'saviour'. "One, I don't play that game! And two, why do you guys get all the fun?!"

"Ulquiorra, you too!?" Harribel bellowed out at the two traitors in front of her eyes. Ulquiorra faced the Espada that was one rank above him. "Is there anyone else I should know of?"

"Turn around your majesty!" A voice boomed from behind her. She turned around swiftly to see Yammy grinning widely at her. There was something different about Yammy though. He was 5 times larger than he usually was and the '10' tattoo had turned into '0'.

"Wherever Ulquiorra goes, you follow. I should've expected that much…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yammy asked her demandingly.

"You three are eyesores; get out of my sight!!"

"…Ok…" Grimmjow walked off calmly as the other three Espada stared at him strangely. He had taken Harribel's order seriously. What she really meant was that she'd dispose of them.

"Harribel, do you honestly believe that following Aizen will do you any good?" Ulquiorra questioned her; his eyes boring in to hers. "You are nothing but a sacrifice to his plans." Harribel flinched at the mention of 'sacrifice' – her 'death' was sacrifice. "Quit playing his game for him."

Both Ulquiorra and Yammy disappeared from her side leaving Harribel alone.

"Sacrifice… huh?"

---

Starrk glanced over in the distance. Something was bugging him. First several large reiatsu's burst at random and then the reappearance of three Espada and then the disappearance of them. What was going on?

"Something bothering you?" Kyouraku asked Starrk. The Espada turned back to face Kyouraku. His pink haori and hat were discarded and he looked more dishevelled than he usually was.

"I should be asking you that." He returned the question. Kyouraku blinked confused, what would be bothering him?

"What?"

"Your friend was impaled by Wonderweiss, aren't you worried about him?"

"Ohh…" Kyouraku scratched his head at remembering that scene when Ukitake was impaled through the chest by Wonderweiss's hand. He had fallen to the ground and he wasn't sure if he was okay or not. "Don't worry about it!" He waved it off with a smile – now Starrk was confused. "You see, nowadays if you're impaled or stabbed or whatever you want to call it, you don't die!" He explained. "Like… Hinamori-chan, Byakuya-kun, Rukia-chan, Ichigo… he's been impaled millions of times, wonder what's wrong with that kid…" He thought out a list of people that had been impaled but survived to tell the tale.

"I see…" Starrk mumbled to himself. "You seem to be in a good mood no less; but what if, he died?"

Kyouraku gave him a lengthy stare. "Then that would be unforgivable wouldn't it?"

"I wouldn't know, after we are not the type to avenge our fallen comrades."Starrk explained, noting the fall of Barragan – the self-proclaimed King of Hueco Mundo.

"Hmm… I see… but sorry to disappoint you. Juushirou didn't die, there's no way he'd die from something as minor as that." He told him with a grin on his face. "Just look down there, he's waving at us look!! Yo~ Juushirou~!" He waved down at the ground with a wide grin on his face.

"Quit bullsh-tting me, he's not there!!" Starrk yelled out at him as he glanced down at the ground.

"You actually believed me you moron!" Kyouraku laughed as he impaled Starrk with the shadows.

"The hell!?" Starrk looked at Kyouraku with an incredulous look on his face.

"Don't worry you won't die from that, remember what I said earlier?" He assured him as he began to explain his zanpakutou's special abilities.

"What is this?" Starrk questioned, looking at the shadows that had enshrouded Kyouraku's feet and had extended to where he was.

"Kageoni. Katen Kyoukotsu can make a child's game into reality. With Kageoni, whoever steps on a shadow loses. If you win, you live; if you lose, you die." He explained the Espada before charging at him with frightening speed and clashed swords with him. Starrk raised his weapon above his head to send a powerful attack at Kyouraku. "Iro Oni. Gray."

Kyouraku slashed ferociously at Starrk's arm. Starrk pulled back immediately, distancing himself from the captain. Starrk's eyes widened as he saw the wound to be quite shallow despite it feeling like his arm were going to fly off.

"_Iro Oni. Gray."_

Starrk remembered what Kyouraku had mumbled out seconds before his arm was wounded.

"_My arm is gray. There is no gray anywhere on his body." _Starrk realized this fact as he replayed Kyouraku's words over and over in his mind.

"What's the matter?" Kyouraku asked him. "It's your turn. Call out a colour you want to cut. It won't do any good if you cut another colour than the one you call out."

Starrk narrowed his eyes at the captain. "White." He zoomed forward and slashed at Kyouraku's haori.

"Damn…"

---

"Ken-chan, this way, this way!!!" Yachiru squealed in joy after they had sensed the large reiatsu gathering. Yachiru had somehow found Zaraki after she set off to search for Nariko. Zaraki himself was running around in circles in search of the three shinigami that had shown immense strength.

"You sure about this?" He asked her as he ran into the direction she had directed him. He had remembered back when Yachiru gave him crappy directions when he was searching for Ichigo, way back when Rukia was about to be executed.

"Pretty sure…"

"PRETTY SURE!?" He roared out in disbelief.

"It's okay, Ken-chan! I know they're this way!"

"…It's a dead-end Yachiru!!"

"Then it _**was**_ that way!" She gasped in realization and pointed into the opposite direction from where they first came from. Zaraki growled slightly at Yachiru who was perched on his shoulder but ran into that direction anyways. It wasn't like he knew any more than she did.

"You're sure about this right?"

"Maybe!"

"WHAT!?"

---

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

"TAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!"

"NUUUUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

"WHHHHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!?

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

"YOU TWO SHUDDUP ALREADY!!! HE'S NOT DEAD!!!" Rukia yelled out frustrated at the howling Kiyone and Sentarou. They had gone 'exploring' and found their captain lying on his stomach – unconscious.

"DO YOU NOT SEE THAT WOUND RUKIA!!?" Sentarou yelled out, pointing at the hole in his chest. Rukia glared at him and flipped their captain over.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Both 3rd seaters screamed out causing Rukia to glare at them once more.

"He's still breathing and he still has a pulse!" She snapped out at them as she started to heal him with her own kidou powers. She had already asked for some members of 4th Division to come and help. "Have faith in him will ya!? He won't die that easily!!!"

"B-but-but-but-but!!" They sobbed out – they were now in tears and bawling their eyes out. Rukia groaned at the noise they were making. This was bound to happen anyways – they shouldn't have gone 'exploring' at all.

"R-Ru…ki…a…" Ukitake wheezed out as he slowly opened his eyes. His vision was blurry and he felt great pain in his chest.

"Don't talk right now!" Rukia snapped out at him quietly. "Otherwise these two morons will make MORE noise!!" She sighed at the two 3rd seaters behind her. They were hugging each other, apologizing for every stupid thing that they'd done, wishing good luck on Ukitake's health and overall, crying their hearts out. "Kyouraku-taichou is still fighting, I think he's winning." She informed.

"He… didn't…u-use… Ban…kai… did… he?" He asked her weakly.

"No… why?"

"Th…at's… good to… hear…"

"Rukia-chan!" Hanatarou ran up to her side and looked at Ukitake's condition. Other than the gaping hole in his chest, nothing else seemed serious. He slung off the bag from his back and pulled out all his medical equipment. "Do you think you can keep healing him for a while?" He asked her.

"Who do you think I am?" Rukia asked him with a twinge of a smirk on her face. "Do _you_ think you can heal him?" She returned the question.

"Who do you think taught me?" He asked her. Rukia… had no clue who had taught him. Hanatarou realized this and coughed up the information she was lacking. "Of course, Unohana-taichou taught me some things and Kotetsu-fukutaichou… and…"

"…and?"

"Tsukiyomi-senpai… but she taught me a bunch of useless tricks too…"

"Sounds like her."

"Okay, I'm starting, this won't hurt at all!" He assured the captain. Rukia eyed his bag; he didn't have any anaesthetics with him. Rukia knew for a fact that on-the-spot surgery would be painful and risky but without the drugs, it would hurt like hell.

"Hanatarou, how are you…?" She stopped as Hanatarou put his hand on Ukitake's wound and concentrated reiatsu onto it. He removed his hand seconds later and started to do his work – Ukitake didn't flinch or show any sign of pain at all, he was calm actually. Rukia was still using her kidou on Ukitake and she watched Hanatarou work vigorously on saving the captain's life. Hanatarou sure had changed from the first time she met him. "Can I ask something?"

"Hm?" He didn't look up but waited for her question.

"What did you do, earlier?" She asked him, noting Ukitake's unusual calm and peaceful look on his face.

"Ah, that was something Tsukiyomi-senpai taught me, it freezes the nerves in the area so you won't feel anything." He explained to her. "You see, she had to perform on-the-spot surgeries all the time and anaesthetics would run out fast so she created that spell."

"And she taught it to you."

"That's right."

"What else did she teach you? I always asked her to show me a trick or two but she never showed me." Rukia pouted childishly, remembering all the times Rina had refused to teach Rukia a trick when it came to mastering healing spells.

"Well…" Hanatarou thought deeply on whether or not to show her a 'useless trick' Rina had taught him. "There's this one…" He muttered a chant quietly as Rukia watched what he was doing.

"Huh? What did you do? I didn't see anything!"

"Ukitake-taichou."

"Yes…?"

"Could you raise your arm?" Ukitake eyed him suspiciously. He had heard the chant and if it was something that Rina had created, something bad would happen. He hesitantly raised his arm… or at least he tried to.

"What did you do?" Rukia asked Hanatarou as Ukitake's left leg moved up instead.

"Messed up the central nervous system." He explained. "Apparently Rina saw it in a manga (Naruto) and tried to mimic it and somehow she did."

"Can you stop it, please?" Ukitake asked him as he couldn't figure out what limbs would move if he tried to move at all. Hanatarou muttered another chant and the spell disabled.

"Maybe that's why she never taught me these things…" Rukia realized.

"OI!!" A voice shouted out.

"K-KYOURAKU-TAICHOU!!" Both Kiyone and Sentarou cried out in joy.

"Ah, Kyouraku-taichou! You're all right!" Rukia looked over to the captain who was walking over to them. He had discarded his captain's haori too during his fight with Starrk so he looked like a pretty average shinigami, aside from the many wounds he had on him. Starrk's arm was draped around Kyouraku's shoulders as he was dragged to the spot where Hanatarou and Juushirou were.

"Think you guys can take care of this guy too?" He asked them as he placed the Espada down on the ground. Both Rukia and Hanatarou stared at him with shock. Kyouraku noticed their reactions and started to explain to them. "He ain't so bad once you get to know him… or fight him. Besides… ah, that's right; do you know of the deaths that each Espada rules over?" He asked them. Apparently they didn't so he told them. "This guy's 'death' is solitude. It'd be sad if he died in solitude don'tcha think?"

"Kyouraku-taichou, aren't you letting your guard down too much?" Rukia asked him. "What if he starts another war with us? He is number 1 after all."

"Nah, I don't think this guy will." Kyouraku assured them with confidence in his answers. "Juushirou, you okay?" He turned his attention to his friend.

"I-I will be… I'm pretty sure…" He responded.

"You'll be okay, don't worry! Like what Mika says, idiots don't die!"

"OI!"

---

"Ah~ it's nice to be out again ain' it, Aizen-taichou?" Gin asked him with his grin on his face. The three amigos were walking around the destroyed Seireitei calmly with Aizen leading the way. At first Gin and Tousen thought that they were heading out to the main battlefield where the top 3 Espada were with most of the captains, but now he had a change of plans. They were headed somewhere else that played host to several large reiatsu presences.

"TOUSEN-TAICHOU!!" Both Hisagi and Komamura came out of nowhere and ambushed the aforementioned former captain.

"What the!?!" He managed to dodge the ambush as the two shinigami cornered him with their zanpakutou's drawn.

"Aizen, Ichimaru! Don't move!!" Komamura bellowed out threateningly.

"Tousen-taichou—"

"Hisagi, why do you still call me taichou?" Tousen asked him. Even after Tousen's betrayal and arrest, Hisagi still never ceased to call him 'taichou'.

"Well… just plain 'Tousen' doesn't sound right… 'Tousen-san' makes it seem like we don't know each other and 'Tousen-kun' or 'Tousen-chan' sounds…"

"Messed up and wrong!?" Gin butted in causing some annoyed glares headed his way. "What?"

"What are you three going to do?" Komamura interrupted and turned his attention to all three. "You don't have your zanpakutous; do you think you can fight us without them?" He asked them. Aizen replied with a smirk.

"Komamura-taichou, have you forgotten of how I disposed of you with one kidou spell?" He asked him. Komamura flinched at the memory. Even without using his zanpakutou, Aizen was strong, everyone knew that. His power was about the same as Yamamoto-soutaichou's. If Yamamoto couldn't defeat Aizen then the next strongest person that could possibly have a chance against him, in Seireitei was Unohana – most of her powers were still unknown to many.

"Koma-chan~ dun worry about us, we're not out to blow sh-t up!" Gin assured him with his grin. Komamura didn't buy it. But before Komamura or anyone else could make a move a loud voice rang through, causing Gin to freeze from shock.

"GIN YOU BASTARD!!!" Rangiku appeared out of nowhere and whacked Gin on the head. She was obviously injured as she still had a portion of her body missing but somehow she was able to stand up and walk and beat up her childhood friend.

"Rangiku-san! Your wounds haven't healed yet!!" Kira appeared seconds later but froze once he saw Gin.

"Owwie… that hurt!" Gin whined as he rubbed his head. His eyes trailed to her wounds. "What happened to you?"

"WHAT HAPPENED TO **ME** YOU ASK!?" Rangiku grabbed Gin by his clothes and yelled in his face. "YOUR STUPID AMAZONESS SLUTS DID THIS TO ME YOU MORON!!!" She shook him back and forth furiously despite the fact that she should've been lying down.

"Was she really attacked?" Everyone asked Kira who could only nod, his jaw hanging open slightly as everyone watched Rangiku bash Gin repeatedly.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING OUT HERE ANYWAYS!? SHOULDN'T YOU BE IN YOUR PADDED ROOM!?"

"asdfkvakjiwerimmx,mv,mkjfkghiiwrpui32991bnk399.2…aslfjwioejroijbknj…" Gin could only mumble out nonsense as he was starting to feel nauseous from Rangiku's constant shakings. "Rangiku stop please…!" He was dropped onto the ground by an angry Rangiku. Once Gin felt okay again, he stood back up and faced her.

"You gonna tell me or what? Cuz you NEVER tell me where you're going!!"

"Well you see –"

"Don't you dare give me anymore excuses and crap like that! I'm sick and tired of seeing your back walking away from me!!" She screamed out, her voice cracking slightly.

"This is so much better than those crappy daytime soap-operas!" Kira muttered under his breath as everyone nodded in agreement.

"Why does it matter that I tell you where I'm going?" Gin asked her, clueless. Bad move.

"WHY? WHY!!? WHY!!?? CUZ I CARE ABOUT YOU, YOU DUMMY!!!" She screeched out fighting back some tears that were threatening to drop – no one could tell if she was really going to cry or if her wounds hurt so much that tears were starting to form. "I DON'T WANT YOU TO DIE!! WHY CAN'T YOU SEE THAT!?"

"That counts as a confession right?" Hisagi asked Kira.

"I'm pretty sure."

Gin was speechless. Never in his life had he seen Rangiku this distraught… nor this loud and angry. She was always the shy, quiet girl that followed him wherever he went when they had lived in Rukongai. Rangiku's breathing started to get heavier; she fell onto one knee and clutched her bleeding side.

"Ah! This is why I told her to stay put!!" Kira hissed as he went over to her side to heal her again. Gin literally kicked Kira to the side once Kira had reached them. He fell a distance back and looked flabbergasted at his former captain's actions.

"Ooh…" The other guys flinched at Kira's 'rejection'. "Rejection hurts, it's okay Kira, we've all been there." They assured him – Kira really didn't need it.

"I'll take care of her myself, you don' need to worry 'bout her." Gin told them as he started to use his kidou to heal her. Everyone stared at him wide-eyed; normally he wouldn't do these kinds of things especially in front of other people.

"We should leave them alone" Aizen and Tousen pushed everyone away and walked away, leaving Gin and Rangiku their space.

"Yoruichi-san?" Komamura caught sight of the former captain. She stopped and looked at the odd group. She glared at Aizen causing him to feel uncomfortable under her harsh glare.

"Why're you here?" Hisagi asked her. She was about to say something but instead. "SARUGAKI YOU B-TCH!!" roared out instead.

Yoruichi turned around to see Hiyori fly out of the dust with her hollow mask on. An army of ice shards came chasing after her and then a tidal wave crashed through, flooding the area. Luckily for Yoruichi and the group behind her, they jumped up into the air to dodge the attack.

"Crazy b-tch!!" Hiyori yelled out as the offender made her appearance.

"Mika?" Kira was shocked at Mika's appearance. Hisagi already knew of Mika's rivalry with Hiyori so he knew that was normal. But if Mika was here, shouldn't Renji be around too?

"Mika?" Yoruichi eyed the shinigami suspiciously. The zanpakutou was what confused her the most. The Shikai release state was back to the original that they had all known – the large ice shard – that was the zanpakutou created from her father's soul. How was it that she was able to use that again? "Oi, Mika!" She yelled out again. Mika didn't respond. "Don't tell me…" Yoruichi muttered.

"What's going on?" Kira asked Hisagi.

"I have no clue."

Aizen stared at Mika; something was definitely off about her. She didn't respond to her name, her zanpakutou was not in the true form, nor should it have been able to be used again and then there was her arm. It was bleeding at the exact spot where the teardrop seal was placed. Aizen got an idea and figured that it couldn't hurt to try it out.

"Kurai Jiro, it's been a long time!"

Mika instantly turned her attention towards him.

"AIZEN!!" She appeared right behind Aizen and swung her weapon at his head at which he dodged.

"Jiro…?" Yoruichi gasped. "Then that means…!!"

---

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?!!" Renji yelled out confused at the scene that was shown before him.

Mika had disappeared as well as Hiyori – he already knew that Mika was already off on her 'Hiyori Hunting Fest'. Tori was off in a corner, standing calm and watching the scene. Not a word was uttered from her. Hitsugaya had tried to talk to her but she never responded to him. And when he had poked her and referred to her as "Shinboku" she looked as if she didn't know the captain. And now, the oddest of sights was Rina fighting viciously against Byakuya – with the original form of Hanabi, a blade of black flames. And then there was also the strange way how she referred to herself – in third person and usually in 'my daughter'. What did that mean?

"Rina, what's wrong with you!?" Byakuya yelled out as he blocked another rash attack. Her eyes which were normally a dark brown were now red and glazed over as if she were possessed.

"HOW DARE YOU TALK TO MY DAUGHTER WITHOUT ANY HONORIFICS!!?" She roared out infuriated and swung down harder than the last. Byakuya was getting more and more confused by the second.

"BYAKUYA!!" Yoruichi reappeared on the scene and kicked Rina away from him. "You better get out of her sight, that's not Rina!" She told him.

"I think we all know that!" He yelled back to her as he saw Rina stand up and glare at him from behind Yoruichi.

"You don't understand! That's her dad!!"

"What?" Everyone was dead confused.

"Those 'pets' of theirs released the seals that were placed on them and released their clans' powers. But that also meant that they released part of their fathers' souls which were trapped within them! He frickin hates you and will kill you if you don't get out NOW!!"

"…Yoruichi have you been drinking?" Renji asked her not quite understanding the situation. She glared at him in response. "If you don't believe me then why don't you see how Mika is acting!?" Renji disappeared instantly to find her.

"Shihouin-taichou, move out of the way. This kid is mine!!" Rina pushed Yoruichi out of the way and sped towards Byakuya once more and lashed out more attacks, more dangerous than the last. Byakuya narrowed his eyes at 'Rina'.

"Wait, why does he hate me!?" Byakuya asked Yoruichi. Yoruichi stared at him in shock.

"You're kidding me!"

Both blades were locked together and sparks were generating from the friction applied by both shinigami. Byakuya looked at Yoruichi, waiting for an answer.

"Remember when we used to play tag together?" Yoruichi asked him.

"What about it?"

"I won every time!!" Yoruichi grinned as Byakuya glared at her. "Okay, okay, remember when you were chasing me through Seireitei and you happened to meet three guys on a rooftop?"

Byakuya thought back to his adolescence. Fragments of the past came back to him. He remembered chasing Yoruichi around and passing a group of three men fixing a roof. Suddenly a man yanked him back by his hair and called him a 'little sh-t' and started yelling death threats at him.

"THAT GUY WAS HER FATHER!?!" He yelled out in shock and stared at Rina's face wide-eyed. It was a joke right? He pushed her back and held his zanpakutou up and she did the same.

"Yoruichi, why did they possess them?" Hitsugaya asked her as Tori showed no reaction. To think that this silent, calm, personality belonged to her father was beyond imagination.

"If only I knew!" Yoruichi sighed; surely Urahara hadn't thought that this would happen. Destroying the Hougyoku was going to be harder now.

* * *

_I know, it's so messed up right now :P for those who still understand what's going on, congratulations! For those who are confused, don't worry there's probably a bunch more~ o and (insert evil laugh here) i think i might've stimulated some yaoi thoughts for pairings of GrimmXUlqui, UkiXKyouraku, w/e pairings are out there... it was unintentional but dammit the yaoi fangirl in me is making me think that ... i blame u AshFallenAngel D: - next update... soon...ish? til next time~_


	23. Going Out With a BOOM!

_If you get confused while reading this chapter, I don't blame you because even I got confused part way...

* * *

_

Renji had found Mika… or at least 'Mika'. She was fighting Hiyori as predicted and amazingly, it looked like she was winning. Renji had tried to step in to stop 'Mika' but it was way too dangerous for him to step in. But if he didn't stop her soon, Seireitei would be destroyed by them.

"Mi… no wait, that's not her…" Renji continued to watch Mika's every movement. "Kurai Jiro!!" He yelled out. Mika's body froze and looked into his direction.

"This is so weird…" Hisagi commented. Renji nodded, this was beyond weird – even for Mika!

"WHADDYA WANT WEIRDO EYEBROWS!?"

Renji twitched; her father was no different from Mika herself. He held back a smartass retort that would surely lead to a fight. And besides, this was her father he was talking to!

"C-can you stop fighting Hiyori for a second and help us destroy the Hougyoku!?"

"H-Hou… what the f-ck is that?!" She yelled out at him.

"It was one of Urahara's inventions!!" Renji yelled out.

"Urahara? Where is he anyways?" She looked around trying to sensing Urahara's reiatsu.

"Urahara was kicked out a long time ago, Yoruichi left with him too and so did she." He pointed at Hiyori. 'Mika' looked at Hiyori in disbelief.

"What about him?" She pointed at Aizen who was actually hiding behind Renji in fear.

"Oh, him? He betrayed us and screwed us over but we arrested him and he's not supposed to be out right now!!" Renji yelled out, more at Aizen than anyone else.

"I knew that that would happen." She sighed. "Aizen!! You're next after her!!" She threatened him before exchanging blows with Hiyori once again.

"How are we going to stop him?" Kira wondered out loud seeing no end to 'Mika's' assault on Hiyori.

"Renji think of something!!" Hisagi scolded Renji. Renji glared at him trying to think up of a plan.

"WHAT DO I DO!?" He screamed up at the heavens hoping some answer would come to him. Komamura stepped forward catching Renji's attention.

"Ask him for Mika's hand in marriage." He told him as everyone's eyes nearly popped out of their heads.

"WHAT!?" Renji screeched shocked. His face was a bright red now.

"That _**is**_ her father after all, he _**will**_ stop." Komamura explained. Renji had already turned 4 shades of red in this time interval.

"B-bu-but-but-but!!! **Now**!?" He looked back and forth between Komamura and Mika. "A normal guy needs months of preparation, you're telling me to do this on-the-spot!?" Renji asked him in disbelief. Did Komamura want to kill him?

"It was nice knowing you Renji." Hisagi patted Renji's back. "I get all your stuff right?"

"No!" Renji swatted Hisagi's hand away and thought about Komamura's idea. It certainly did seem like it'd work. But then there was his lifespan to think about too. "Can you give me a minute… or an hour?" Renji asked meekly – he needed time to write his will.

"Renji! You can do it!" Kira told him with a nod. Hisagi did the same as did everybody else.

Renji suddenly had a huge burden on his shoulders. He was left with the task of stopping Mika's father from destroying Seireitei… by asking for Mika's hand in marriage. He took a small step forward; his legs had turned into jelly. Never in his life did he think that he'd feel so scared – more scared than when he was in Yachiru's Room of Horror. He took his wobbly second step, nearly tripping on nothing. He turned back to face his 'support group'. They all nodded with a smile on their faces.

"F-ck my life…" Renji cursed as he turned back to where Mika and Hiyori were. "K-Kurai-san?" He squeaked out meekly as Hiyori cackled madly as she had successfully thrown a slab of rock at 'Mika'. "This can wait can't it?" Renji decided as he confidently walked back to the group.

"No! You are going to do this!!" They all pushed him back and threw him in between Hiyori and 'Mika' unceremoniously.

"Oi, dickhead move it!!" Hiyori spat out at him.

"Move it kid!" 'Mika' stood up and glared at Hiyori harshly.

"Ah… Kurai-san!" Aizen yelled out. 'Mika' glared at Aizen instantly. "Renji has something he wants to ask you." Aizen pointed at the horror-stricken Renji who was mouthing 'traitor' and various death threats at Aizen.

"Make it snappy!" She spat out at him.

"Uh…uh…um…" He stuttered, getting absolutely no where. One hidden trait about Jiro was that he was incredibly impatient. "Hurry it up will ya!?"

Renji gulped, realizing that this was it; the moment where he'd have to ask that question. "I-I… r-re-rea…"

"Didn't know that you had a speech impediment." 'Mika' sighed as she ignored Renji and turned her focus back on Hiyori. "READY TO DIE YOU LITTLE BEYOTCH!?"

"WHAT ABOUT YOU YOU PIECE OF SH-T!?"

"WHADDYA SAY!? NEVER MOCK THE KURAI NAME YOU HEAR ME!? KU-RA-I!! KU-RA-I!! NOTHING IS GONNA STOP THIS FI--!!"

"PLEASE LET ME MARRY MIKA!!!" Renji blurted out suddenly causing everybody to stop their movements. 'Mika's' eyes opened wide at such a question. She lowered her weapon and looked at Renji who had his head bowed down low showing deep respect.

"He actually did it…!" Kira gasped at Renji's actions.

"Damn I didn't think he could!" Hisagi's mouth was left agape in shock and surprise. "Looks like I get my inheritance!" Hisagi destroyed the moment.

"I don't think you're getting it." Kira commented as he saw 'Mika' sheathe her sword and bend down to Renji's level. Hisagi groaned.

'Mika' grabbed Renji by the hem of his haori and lifted him up so that they could see eye-to-eye. Renji gulped at seeing Mika's face. Sure he'd always see Mika's face everyday but it was totally different as it was her father's soul in her body right now, not her.

"Care to repeat what you just said?" 'Mika' asked him. Renji stared at her with a steady gaze. He took a deep breath before repeating his words.

"Please let me marry Mika." He said it with more confidence this time. 'Mika' closed her eyes and a smile grew on her face. Renji let out a sigh of relief – he wasn't going to die.

"WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I'M GUNNA LET YOU TAKE MY DAUGHTER AWAY FROM ME HUH!?!!"

"WHAT!!?"

---

"You're awfully quiet, Yuudai." Yoruichi commented on 'Tori's' silent demeanour.

"There's no point in getting involved with this." She commented, her eyes following Byakuya's and 'Rina's' movements. "By the way, who are you?" She looked over to Hitsugaya who was standing with them, watching the scene unfold.

"Juubantai taichou, Hitsugaya Toshiro." He introduced himself formally. 'Tori' nodded at this and turned her focus back onto the fight.

"How are you related to my daughter?"

Hitsugaya froze, the question had come and now he had to answer it or look like a dick.

"Well, I'm her captain." He started off, hoping nothing more would come from the question. 'Tori' stared at Hitsugaya.

"There's more to it isn't there?"

"…how'd you know?"

"So there is!"

"…You tricked me…"

"Not as dumb as you look, I see…" 'Tori' smirked; this attitude was pissing Hitsugaya off. Yoruichi was watching the whole thing; she was trying to hold back a smirk. "Now tell me, what _is_ your relationship to my daughter?"

"…"

"He's her boyfriend" Yoruichi whispered to 'Tori'. Hitsugaya's eyes opened wide at once, he sent death glares at Yoruichi mouthing curses at her. 'Tori' just stared at Hitsugaya.

"_You're_ her boyfriend?!?"

"…yes…"

"Funny, I always imagined her dating someone… taller…"

Something snapped in Hitsugaya. It didn't matter if it was Tori's father; he was pissed. 'Tori' could tell that he was pissed.

"You haven't changed." Yoruichi commented on Yuudai's cheekiness.

"Well, I'm SO sorry I'm this short!! I don't see you any taller!! Otherwise Tori would be taller now wouldn't she!?" Hitsugaya roared out, pressing all off Yuudai's buttons.

"You DARE to INSULT my daughter!?" Yuudai roared out, enraged. "ALL I WANTED WAS MY DAUGHTER TO LET HER FUTURE KIDS HAVE A CHANCE TO BE TALL, IS THAT SO BAD TO WISH FOR!?"

"IF YOU WEREN'T IN TORI'S BODY RIGHT NOW I'D SO PUMMEL YOU TO THE GROUND SO THAT YOU'D BE SHORTER!!!"

"WHAT THE HELL DID TORI SEE IN YOU!? CUZ I DON'T SEE IT AND I DON'T APPROVE OF IT!!"

"WELL TOO BAD, YOU CAN'T DECIDE YOUR DAUGHTER'S FUTURE FOR HER, NOW CAN YOU!?"

Yoruichi walked away from the verbal abuse trying to find some peace of mind. Yuudai, the seemingly calmer one of the three was now unstoppable. Who knew when the other two would come around and calm down?

---

"WHY DID THIS HAPPEN!? WHY, WHY, WHY?!!" 'Rina' yelled out as she pounded her blade against Byakuya's multiple times. Byakuya managed to hold his ground. He had a sudden hatred for Rina's father; ever since he remembered who he actually was, he couldn't help but resent him. "HOW DID SHE FALL FOR YOU?! HOW, HOW, HOW!!!?"

"Anymore 3-letter questions you want to ask me?" Byakuya asked him, uninterested. "How are you exactly related to her anyways?" He asked him, remembering that he had asked Rina's mother the very same question, many years ago.

"GAH YOU LITTLE SH-T!!!" Byakuya dodged causing Rina's blade to be deeply wedged into the wall behind him.

"Not only are you stupider than her, you're much weaker than her." Byakuya sighed disappointed. The little brat within him was starting to reappear – he was secretly enjoying mocking Rina's father. "Never thought that was even possible."

"DAMN YOU!!" 'She' screeched at him as she pried her blade out of the wall and raised it above her head. "I'M GONNA F—guh… what the hell!?" She grabbed her head in pain and took several steps back. Byakuya watched her with wonder –what else could happen now? She blinked multiple times, revealing her normal dark brown eyes again.

"…Rina?" Byakuya asked warily. She stared at him confused.

"What's going on?" She asked him. She looked at her weapon which was clearly aimed at Byakuya and then she surveyed the area around her – pure destruction. "Are you going to answer me or what!?"

"You don't remember?" He asked her. She shook her head. "You did this."

"What!?"

"Well, more like your father did."

"What? Are you on something? He's dead, how did he do that!?" Rina stared at him incredulously; never in her life had she heard something so weird come out of his mouth.

"It's true." Yoruichi jumped down and walked towards the two. "Your family's sealed powers were unsealed and for some reason, the part that belonged to your father awoke and he possessed you." She explained to her, Rina gave both Byakuya and Yoruichi a strange look. She totally didn't believe them.

"Oh my god you guys are druggie buddies… not good, not good!" Rina sighed disappointed at the two in front of her. They glared at her from her comment. "So… why was I trying to kill you? Or my dad, I should say." Rina asked him.

"…I'm pretty sure you already know…" He responded, looking away from them.

"Ohh… right, right… did he happen to say anything stupid?"

"Everything your dad says is stupid"

"Ugh!" Rina grabbed her head in pain again. Just as Byakuya had insulted her father, a sharp pain stabbed her brain. "Why does it hurt so much? Was I hit on the head?" She wondered out loud.

"That's from when you were dropped." Byakuya answered her question, earning himself a glare from Rina.

"When did you become such a cheeky little s—gah!!"

"Rina?" Yoruichi grabbed the shinigami's shoulders and shook her slightly. "Don't get possessed again! We have to destroy the Hougyoku!" She yelled out desperately. "OI!!!"

"SHUDDUP WOULD YA!!" Rina yelled out at her as she took a step back. The pain had stopped momentarily and so had her father's possessiveness.

"Glad to see you're still here… think you could wake up Tori and Mika?" Yoruichi asked her. Rina looked over at Tori who was arguing with Hitsugaya. Mika was nowhere to be seen.

"They're possessed too?" Rina wondered out loud. Then again, Tori and Hitsugaya rarely argued at such a level so it was pretty obvious that that wasn't Tori. "I don't know how to though…"

"…How did you wake up?" Yoruichi asked her.

"I'm not sure…"

"We'll never destroy the Hougyoku at this rate…" Yoruichi sighed, disappointed. "Where'd Shinji go?" She realized that the vizard was nowhere to be seen.

---

"Agh, f-ck my life, why'd I agree to do this?" Shinji grumbled as he stormed back to the place where he was blown away from. Along the way he started singing the 'f-ck my life' song… it consisted of 98% curse words that little children should not know of.

"Oi, Shinji!!!"

Shinji looked over to see someone very familiar.

"Hey Ichigo!!" He waved back as Ichigo met up with him.

"Why're you guys here?"

"Urahara…"

"I see…" Ichigo stopped walking suddenly and just stared in shock at what he saw before him.

"Hmm? What's wrong?" Shinji stopped, noticing Ichigo's sudden behaviour. Ichigo gave no reply. Shinji traced where Ichigo's eyes were staring at. "Ohh… it's you guys."

"I'll take care of them; you go … wherever you need to be." Ichigo told him as he pulled out Zangetsu and pointed it at the 3 Espada that were standing in front of them.

"You don't need to do that, they're on our side!" Shinji yelled out before Ichigo could strike them with a Getsuga Tenshou. Ichigo stopped at mid-swing and stared wide-eyed at Shinji.

"What're you talking about? They're the enemy!!" Ichigo yelled back, not seeing Shinji's point of view on the situation.

"Put down your sword, Kurosaki. We're not here to fight you." Ulquiorra ordered Ichigo without a flicker of emotion on his face. Ichigo didn't do as Ulquiorra had ordered; he had a feeling that it was a trap and that Shinji was trying to screw him over. "I said, put it down."

"Why're you guys here then?" Ichigo asked him.

"Why? You guys asked for our help!!" Grimmjow stepped in, shocking Ichigo.

"We did…?" Ichigo was clueless and then he felt angry. Why was he always left out on things? He lowered his weapon and decided that it couldn't hurt to listen to their story. "If you guys are helping us… then, why the attack?"

"Not all of us agreed to help." Ulquiorra responded.

"And you guys decided to be the good guys?"

"You could say that."

"Could we talk about this later? We don't have time to waste!" Shinji screamed out suddenly causing everyone to turn to him. "We're going to destroy the Hougyoku now!!"

"The Hougyoku?" Ichigo's eyes widened slightly. "How are you—?"

"I'll explain on the way!!" Shinji grabbed Ichigo's arm and sped off into the direction where everyone else was. Grimmjow, Yammy and Ulquiorra followed close behind.

---

"That reiatsu…" Yamamoto looked off into the distance after sensing (like everyone else had) the large reiatsu's that had exploded on to the scene suddenly. He instantly knew who's they were and felt some worry arise.

Currently the battle that he and most of the captains were engaged had faded off, leaving only the minor arrancar and hollows left behind. The top three Espada had disappeared – Starrk was under the watch of Kyouraku and Ukitake as he was being healed by 4th Division members; Barragan had died and Harribel went missing after she chased Hitsugaya around Seireitei. Even though it looked like an easy victory for Soul Society, that didn't mean that his side had no casualties. Ukitake was still in critical condition though his vitalities were stabilizing; at least that was the last report from the 4th Division. Kyouraku had to undergo some treatment too but his injuries weren't as serious as Ukitake's. Rangiku had disappeared somewhere but it was known that she hadn't healed fully yet – with her disappearance, Hisagi and Kira had also disappeared from the battle scene. Hinamori was undergoing treatment at the moment – she wouldn't die from her injuries but it would keep her from working after the 'war' had ceased. Soifon now only had one arm – nonetheless she kept fighting.

"Sasakibe." He called out his lieutenant.

"Hai." He appeared instantly, right by Yamamoto's side.

"Go and investigate what is going on and then report back to me as soon as possible." He ordered his lieutenant. With a nod, he left in an instant.

---

"The f-ck is this…?" Shinji, Ichigo and the three Espada arrived back at where Yoruichi was.

To put it lightly, they weren't expecting to see what they were seeing. Rina and Byakuya had once again locked blades with one another. Tori and Hitsugaya were arguing very loudly with Tori on the offensive. And for Mika and Renji, Mika was yelling at Renji furiously with his uniform clutched in her hands. Yoruichi was sitting on a rooftop of a building staring down at the scene with a bored look on her face. The group went to Yoruichi's side instantly, for answers.

"What's going on?" Ichigo asked her. Yoruichi glanced at Ichigo for a second before returning her eyes to the fights down below.

"What does it look like?" Yoruichi asked him half-heartedly.

"Uh… the guys said something stupid?" Ichigo scratched his head at this thought – this was common for Renji but not for Hitsugaya or Byakuya.

"That's one way of putting it…"

"So… are we going to destroy the Hougyoku or what?" Shinji asked her. Yoruichi stood up from her seat and faced them all.

"If you guys can somehow miraculously stop the fights, then we could destroy it." She told them frankly.

"It can't be that hard." Shinji and Ichigo shrugged and set down to the fights.

"Idiots…"

---

"Oi, Renji!" Ichigo yelled out to Renji who was fearfully repeating his will over and over again in his mind, hoping that it would somehow be sent through telepathy to someone trustworthy. He turned to see Ichigo walking his way. "What did you say this time?" Ichigo asked him. Renji narrowed his eyes at Ichigo.

"I didn't say anything!!" He protested only to be yelled at some more by Mika.

"WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU'RE WORTHY OF BEING WITH MIKA, HUH!?"

Ichigo blinked confused at the scene; since when did Mika talk in third person? Well, it has happened before but that was to piss off the captains when she was ordered to do work that was piled up to about the same height as her. Other than that, she had never spoken in third person again.

"Mika…" He called out to her but no reaction was given. "Mika stop trying to kill Renji!!" Ichigo yelled out causing 'Mika' to temporarily stop. Renji wheezed out a thank you silently to Ichigo as 'Mika' glared at Ichigo.

"Who da f-ck are you?!" She hissed out to him. Ichigo was taken aback to say the least. Mika was a rude person in general but she rarely cursed out at people – unless they really, really pissed her off.

"I'm Ichigo… you know this already." Ichigo answered the question, baffled.

"Ichigo?" 'Mika' scratched her head, not remembering anyone called Ichigo. "I dunno any talking strawberries." She ignored him as she turned her attention back to killing Renji. Renji mouthed a prayer before being shouted at by 'Mika' again. Ichigo sighed frustrated. He didn't know why, but he felt really bad for Renji.

"Renji what the hell did you say to her?!" He hollered out, catching 'Mika's' attention again.

"What did he say? WHAT DID HE SAY!?" She responded angrily, releasing Renji and walked towards Ichigo. Ichigo took several steps back as Renji scrambled to his side.

"What's wrong with her?" Ichigo asked Renji in a hushed whisper. "I mean, this time."

"That's not her!!" Renji hissed back.

"Wha?"

"Long story short, her dad's soul possessed her!!"

"Are you on something…?"

"Would you shut up and listen to me!?" Renji growled at Ichigo. Ichigo gave a childish pout before agreeing to Renji's wish.

"So what _did_ you say to her… or him…?" Ichigo was still confused at the fact that it wasn't Mika but her father.

"… Nothing important…" Renji mumbled out, turning a faint shade of pink. Ichigo noticed this and knew that it wasn't 'nothing important'.

"No seriously, it can't be '_nothing important'_ if he wants to kill you!!" Ichigo pointed out this logical fact. "So what did you say? He wants to kill you so it hasta be—oh wait… you didn't ask _that_ did you?" Ichigo somehow figured out what Renji had said.

"If _that_ is what I think it is, then yes…" Renji nodded meekly as Ichigo's mouth was left hanging agape.

"WOW." Ichigo stared at him in shock. He completely understood what Renji was going through – Byakuya had put him in the same situation multiple times when he first mentioned dating Rukia, and then marrying her. "It's okay." He patted Renji's back. "He'll cool off in a year or two, don't worry about it."

"A YEAR!?" Renji's eyes grew to the size of soccer balls at learning this.

"If you're lucky, 6 months; Byakuya stopped trying to kill me in 9 months, so you'll live don't worry! I did!"

"Yeah but you have your support group! What do I have!?"

"Umm… what's going on?"

Both men turned their eyes back to Mika. She was rubbing her eyes like she had just woken up from a nap. They both stared at her confused and slightly in fear. For all they knew, it could be a trap. As Mika walked closer to them, they retreated with every step she was taking. Mika noticed this and soon became grumpy.

"WHAT!!?" She yelled out.

"That's not her." Ichigo muttered, Renji nodded.

"Ah that's right! Rina found _Ponyo_ on DVD!!" Mika exclaimed suddenly, her mood changing completely.

"…Or… maybe that _is_ her." Renji exchanged confused looks with Ichigo.

They decided to risk it and walked towards Mika cautiously.

"Mika?" Renji looked at the shinigami's eyes carefully. Mika cocked her head to the side confused at him.

"Yeah?"

"Are you really Mika? Or are you really Jiro in disguise?" Renji asked her. Mika had a puzzled look on her face.

"Jiro?"

"Yeah, your dad." Ichigo filled in the blanks.

"Why would I be my dad in disguise?" She asked them, rolling her eyes at such a question. She suddenly peered at them with suspicion lurking in her eyes. "Are you guys on something?"

"NO!! WHY IS EVERYONE ASSUMING THAT TODAY!?" They screamed out frustrated.

"Geez all I wanted was answers…" Mika started to walk away from them.

"MIKA!!" Renji yelled out suddenly. She stopped and looked back at him with a raised eyebrow.

"What now?"

"Do you remember anything?" He asked her, his face was paler than usual.

"...Remember what?" She asked him.

"Like trying to kill Hiyori, then Aizen, and then me…" Renji listed off.

"I remember trying to kill Hiyori." Mika had that memory clearly engraved in her mind. She suddenly realized that she hadn't finished her business and started to track Hiyori down by detecting her reiatsu.

"What about me?" Renji asked.

"What about you?"

"You tried to kill me!"

"I did? What did you say?"

"Uh…"

Ichigo held back a snicker. Renji gave him a look causing him to shut up.

"Uh that's right! We have to destroy the Hougyoku so you better come back with us!" Ichigo brought up the topic; Renji sighed in relief while Mika sighed in disappointment.

"Fine." She pouted and walked back to where Yoruichi was.

---

"OI SHRIMPY!!"

"WHO'RE YOU CALLING A SHRIMP YOU WEIRDO!!!?" Both Hitsugaya and 'Tori' yelled back at Shinji angrily. Without even trying to, he had gotten involved in their fight.

"I CAN SEE HOW HE'S A SHRIMP BUT YOU DARE CALL ME, A SHRIMP!? HIRAKO-TAICHOU I ACTUALLY THOUGHT YOU WERE AN OKAY GUY TOO!!"

"WHAT THE HELL—wait… Hirako-taichou?" Shinji stared at 'Tori' with a puzzled look on his face. Would Tori randomly call him Hirako-taichou out of the blue…? Yes, but still; something seemed off with Tori.

"What?" 'Tori' asked him – he was over inspecting Tori's face. "The hell's with you old man!?"

An anger mark appeared on Shinji's forehead. Something was definitely off with Tori but something nostalgic had arisen.

"Care to run that by me again?" He asked with a glare.

"You gettin' deaf now old fart Hirako?" She asked him with an amused look on her face. "Ah, I see now. Hiyori's really giving you hell isn't she? And what's with those weird clothes man!? You cut your hair too? Can't say that I hate it or like it…"

Shinji held back his fist – he knew exactly who he was talking to.

"YUUDAI I'LL MURDER YOU!!!" He yelled out as Hitsugaya suddenly stepped in between them. It was instinct more than anything else. "MOVE IT BEAN HEAD!!"

An anger mark appeared on Hitsugaya's forehead. Unlike Shinji, he had a good grip on his emotions so he wasn't easily tricked into an anger spell.

"Even though it's not Tori right now, I won't let you hurt them." He told him calmly. Shinji smirked.

"Ehhh? What's this? Showing off to her daddy now?" Shinji ruffled Hitsugaya's hair like he was a little kid. He growled slightly as Shinji pulled away from Hitsugaya. "Not bad kid." Hitsugaya fixed his hair and cast another glare at Shinji. "But I have to hit Yuudai right now, sorry!"

"Yuudai?" Tori awoke and found Shinji's fist mere centimetres away from her face. She swatted his fist away and gave him a puzzled look.

"Wha?"

"Tori, is that really you?" Hitsugaya stared at Tori's face. Tori just smiled back at him, beaming with happiness.

"Of course it is! Who did you think I was silly?"

"Yep, that's her…"

"Where is everyone?" Tori looked around to notice that no one else but them were surrounded by massive slabs of rubble.

"Going to destroy the Hougyoku… now come on!!" Shinji pushed the two shinigami back to where Yoruichi was.

---

"I tried to kill you again!?" Rina groaned at learning this fact once again. Yoruichi stood in between Rina and Byakuya – she had somehow stopped their fight and awoken Rina.

"It's to be expected. Tatsuya really hates Byakuya." Yoruichi told her.

"Yeah but still!!"

"Ah, look who's back!" Yoruichi looked past Rina's shoulders to see Mika, Renji, and Ichigo return. The two captains kept a distance away from Mika and gave her uneasy glances every now and then. They probably still weren't sure if Jiro would come back or not to torment them. Wasn't Jiro supposed to be the mediator in his group of friends?

"I'm back~!" Mika sang out cheerfully.

"Where_ did_ you go?" Rina wondered out loud.

"Somewhere."

"I see."

"So what's up?"

"I tried to kill Byakuya two times today." Rina responded earning a shocked look from Mika.

"What? What did he say?"

"I'm not sure…"

"Don't worry; apparently I tried to kill Renji too." Mika told Rina.

"They are scary people!!" Renji hissed over to Byakuya who could only agree. Still, they loved them, no matter how scary circumstances turned out to be. Besides, it wasn't their fault anyways.

"Sorry to keep ya guys waiting!!" Tori arrived on scene with a pissed off Shinji and a calm Hitsugaya. Renji and Byakuya stared at the shorter captain with envy.

"Why're you so calm?" Renji asked him. Hitsugaya stared at him with a puzzled look.

"Why shouldn't I be?"

"Didn't Tori try to kill you?" Byakuya asked him.

"Verbally yes but physically, no. She loves me too much to hurt me!" He smirked at the other two captains who were both attacked with weapons.

"Screw you"

"Are we ready for sure now?" Yoruichi asked them.

"Yep."

"Sure."

"I guess…"

"You guys won't go berserk on us last minute right?" Ichigo asked the three shinigami. They shook their heads 'no' and they started to proceed with the destruction of the Hougyoku.

Yoruichi placed the small item on the ground and everyone formed a circle around it.

"Okay, on the count of three, release all you have onto it." She ordered them.

"Wait, am I involved?" Ichigo asked them.

"Yes you are because Hiyori is MIA right now." Yoruichi told them.

"Where is she anyways?" Shinji wondered out loud.

"Mika might've killed her…" Renji muttered.

"So what do I do?" Ichigo asked them.

"Go to your vizard state and release a cero." Shinji told him. "Right?" He looked at Yoruichi who nodded in response. Ichigo did as told, his hollow mask concealed his face and he was also in Bankai state.

"You guys won't go against us right?" Ichigo looked at the three Espada.

"We would've a long time ago." Yammy pointed out.

"Okay, on three!!"

"**ONE"**

"**TWO"**

"**THREE"**

"**BANKAI!!!"**

"**HYA!!!!"**

A large blast rocked Seireitei as 5th Division was enshrouded with smoke and dust. Rubble flew in every which way and an uncontrollable amount of reiatsu spilled out, pushing those nearby away from the scene at least a kilometre. Everyone had heard the resounding boom and all attention was turned to that very direction.

"WHAT IS THIS!?" Hisagi yelled out as he shielded his face from the overpowering reiatsu.

"WHAT THE!?" Rukia screeched out as she felt the sudden surge of reiatsu rise exponentially. Kyouraku was wide-eyed at such a presence. Starrk's eyes opened momentarily after being jolted awake by the boom.

"Sasakibe, what is this?!" Yamamoto boomed out at his lieutenant who had reappeared by his side. He wasn't able to get very close before the boom happened and had to retreat in order not to get caught up within the blast.

"I could only hear the word 'Hougyoku' be spoken. My apologies." He told him.

"Hougyoku!?" His eyes opened wide. "Did it break?"

"I believe they were attempting to destroy it."

Yamamoto narrowed his eyes and disappeared instantly.

"YAMAMOTO-SOUTAICHOU!!"

_Judging from the intenseness of this blast… no one in the center of it could've survived…_

* * *

_Uwaa... this story is going to end really soon - the storyline went faster than expected - sorry I couldn't drag it out... or is that a good thing? :S But anyways, I have a semi-important poll up right now on my profile page, so fans of these stories, please vote!! That's all I have to say now~ Bye-bye~ (Gin: that's my line!!)_

_

* * *

_


	24. A Normal Day

_I went MIA for a while (isn't that new?) but then I realized that someone is checking my profile page like every 3 days and the only explanation I have is that person is checking on my update status so here you go~!

* * *

_

_Beep beep beep beep beep…_

"_How's her status?"_

"_Everything's fine, she still hasn't woken up though"_

"_We can only wait."_

"_How long has it been?"_

"_You mean since she's been unconscious? Hand me her chart."_

"_Here."_

"_Almost a month now…"_

"Nnh…"

"_Ah, she's waking up!!"_

"_Call Kotetsu-fukutaichou!!"_

"_How are you feeling? Can you see me?"_

'The f-ck is she talking about?'

"_How many fingers do you see?"_

"…"

"_Do you see two?"_

'Sure…'

"_Okay, ah fukutaichou!"_

'Where am I? 4th Division?'

"Rina, how are you feeling?"

'_What?'_

"Ah, don't move yet!!"

'_Sh-t… shoulda warned me first…'_

"W-what… happened?"

"That's what we want to know."

---

"She's up!?"

"Oh thank god!!"

"What about the other two?"

"I don't kn—"

"GET THAT NEEDLE AWAY FROM ME YOU PSYCHO B-TCH!!"

"Well we know Mika's up now…"

"That's good to hear, Abarai-taichou won't be in such a bad mood now. Now if only Tori would—"

"I WANT PUDDING AND I WANT IT _**NOW**_!!!"

"That's Tori."

"How can you guys tell? We're in 7th Division and they're in 4th!!"

"You're still a noob at this so keep out of it!!"

"Shouldn't someone go tell their captains?"

---

"You really don't remember anything!?" Isane exclaimed shocked at what Rina had just told her.

"Nn." She nodded as she pulled off the oxygen mask and set it aside. "How bad… was it…?"

"Well, the entire 5th Division and anything in a 1 kilometre radius from it was destroyed." Isane started off with the 'small' things first. Rina stared at her in shock. "Somehow though… only you, Tori, and Mika ended up knocked out and in serious condition. Everyone else was fine."

"Wait, who's 'everyone else'?"

"Kurosaki-taichou, Kuchiki-taichou, Abarai-taichou, Hitsugaya-taichou, Yoruichi-san, Hirako Shinji, and the three Espada."

"All those people yet me, Tori, and Mika were the victims?"

"Looks like it."

"So how are they really? I doubt that they're _that_ injured"

"How'd you know?" Isane questioned her sceptically. All the sudden loud shouts and screams of terror erupted through the hallway, sending many shinigami running.

"Mika." Rina muttered, knowing that was definitely Mika's work.

"WE'RE OUT OF STRAWBERRY JELLO!!"

"GO BUY SOME!!"

"AGH!!"

"Tori." Without a doubt, that was Tori's work.

Isane stared at Rina incredulously while she shrugged it off. After living with those two for the majority of her life, she had come to know the before and after affects of Mika's and Tori's demands. Rina brushed away loose strands of her hair and sat herself up more. Isane helped her take off some of the electrodes and stopped the heart monitor.

"So how long was I out for?" Rina asked Isane as she pulled up a chair to sit in.

"Roughly a month."

"A MONTH!?" She shrieked out loud, despite having just woken up from a month-long coma.

"Yes, a month. It's been nothing but quiet in that month and your captain has gotten into a very pissed off mood so I suggest that you go and change that ASAP!" Isane told her. Rina nodded. If Byakuya was in a pissed off mood, then Renji's and Hitsugaya's couldn't be much different.

"Ah! What about Aizen and the others? The Espada? Ukitake?" Questions spewed out of her mouth as fragments of memories came flooding back. She could only remember some key points and they were really fuzzy so she didn't know if those moments had happened or if it was some strange dream.

"Aizen… well let's just say that Yamamoto-soutaichou took care of him." Isane noticed Rina's confusion. "We don't exactly know either but Aizen has disappeared and we can't trace any of his reiatsu. Yamamoto-soutaichou isn't raising any alarms so we assuming that we're safe. As for Tousen and Ichimaru…" Isane drifted off. Her eyes showed that she was a bit upset.

"They're not…?"

Isane shook her head. "They're not dead but they're on death row right now and Rangiku-san, Hisagi-san and Komamura-taichou are asking Yamamoto-soutaichou to change this decision. A lot of us are against this too." She took a deep breath before continuing on. "The Espada, right, most of them died during our battle with them as you might remember. Umm, Starrk, Harribel, Ulquiorra, Grimmjow and Yammy; they've returned to Hueco Mundo. It looks like they're not planning on another war with us but we can't automatically assume that they're allies of us."

"I'm not sure about Starrk and Harribel but for the other three, I'm sure they won't cause us any trouble." Rina informed her, remembering her mini alliance with those three Espada.

"That reminds me; after you're all better you need to report on why you were with Ulquiorra and the others." Isane reminded her. Rina grumbled some profanities. "Ukitake-taichou is just fine. He suffered serious injuries but he's okay. Hanatarou did a really good job on healing him."

"That's good to hear." Rina sighed in relief. "Any deaths I should know about?"

"No one important died."

"How nice."

Rina scanned her room; her grogginess had worn off during this talk with Isane. It wasn't until then that she noticed something was different about her hand. She stared at it, blinked several times and stared at it again.

"Isane…" Rina showed her right open palm to her. "What happened to the tattoo there? It's gone!!"

"It's now or never I guess; when we found you guys, the areas where those seals were, were bleeding profusely. It healed in no time though but…"

"But what?"

"Rina, can you sense Hiroshi anywhere?"

Rina paused, closed her eyes and concentrated on finding the large wolf. She scrunched her face up in confusion as she couldn't detect him. She opened her eyes and shook her head.

"Hiroshi, Isamu and Daichi all disappeared after we found you guys."

"What!?"

"That's not all. You know how there were walking skeletons and such in your former homes?"

Rina nodded.

"Nothing there. Only empty estates."

"Are you sure?"

"We're sure; there is no sign of life there at all. You guys can go see for yourselves once you guys can stand again."

"That's weird… wait, did we destroy the Hougyoku or are we part-hollow hybrids now!?"

"You're still shinigami and everything is normal with you three… amazingly. It was ordered that Kurotsuchi-taichou conducted some tests on your DNA just to make sure that nothing serious had happened. And the results came back with everything normal. Don't worry; we didn't let him do anything else to you guys." Isane had noticed Rina's freaked out face when she mentioned Kurotsuchi-taichou. "He tried to analyze your guys' zanpakutou's though…" She turned and looked at Hanabi which was laid upon a small table beside the bed. "But he couldn't even touch it without being harmed."

"I see… Hanabi is still Hanabi I guess…"

"But he did say something about you three."

"What?"

"Your reiatsu changed."

"Huh?"

"It changed a bit so now we're wondering if you guys are stronger or weaker than you guys were once before. That means that, you're going to have to take a re-evaluation test for Lieutenants." She informed her.

"I… don't need to be a Lieutenant again, it's okay!"

"No it's not!!!" Isane stood up suddenly, knocking her chair back and glared down at Rina. Rina wished that she could jump out the window or something to escape but in the current state she was in now, it was impossible. "Who's going to keep me company in those boring meetings of ours!?"

"There's always Rangiku!"

"She hasn't come in to work ever since she heard of Gin's sentence!!"

"Hinamori?"

"Recovering from injuries."

"Hisagi!"

"Renji is keeping him working full-time!"

"Damn um… Yachiru!"

"Skips out!"

"Kira!"

"Possible future 3rd Division Captain!"

"Are you serious!?"

"Yeah, a lot of people recommended him to be a captain and since that spot is still vacant and all."

"Does he know Bankai then?"

"He hasn't shown anyone… so we don't know… but ANYWAYS!!"

"Oomaeda."

"Glutton."

"Ise."

"Pays attention too much!"

"Iba."

"Doesn't give a damn."

"Rukia."

"On and on about Chappy."

"What's wrong with Chappy?"

"…"

"Nemu."

"Doesn't speak."

"Uh…"

"The only one left is Sasakibe and he never shows up so you better stay!!" Isane warned her.

"Why can't someone like Mika take over? She's way stronger than me!!"

"She refused it a long time ago."

"What!?"

"Yeah, like back when you guys were in 13th Division or something. She was offered the position but she turned it down saying that it was a pain the ass and she didn't want to take responsibility for crap she didn't know about." Rina muttered a curse. All this time Mika was whining about wanting to be a Lieutenant. "And I don't know about anyone else but, I think you're the only one who can really deal with Kuchiki-taichou and stay on his good side.

"What about Tori, huh?"

"Tori's practically an acting Lieutenant isn't she? With Rangiku's ditching and stuff."

"So true…"

"Besides, if you left that position, where would you go?"

"Hm… well I could quit and stay with Nariko all the time and play _Wii_ all day… or pig out at the yakiniku place whenever I want. I'd have so much free time to do sh-t that I've always wanted to do but you guys held me back…"

"YOU'RE STAYING!!" Isane shouted out, deciding Rina's future.

"Okay, okay _mom_! Geez!!"

The door slid open suddenly and in stepped Byakuya. Isane stood up and bowed down before taking a last glance at Rina.

"He's been in a really bad mood lately so don't do anything stupid!" Isane whispered to her before leaving.

"So… how's life?" Rina asked him with a grin on her face.

---

"Geez woman!! You're awake for 5 minutes and you scared everyone away!!" Renji exclaimed, slamming the door shut behind him as he walked towards a pouting Mika. Books, medical equipment, her chart etc. were thrown across the room, sprawled out in a big mess. The most noticeable of all, the remnants of needles lay broken on the floor. Renji pulled up a chair and sat at her bedside. Mika was still pouting, looking at the window, away from Renji. "Muffin?" He handed her a chocolate muffin.

"YAY!!!" Mika squealed in joy and slowly devoured her snack. Renji sighed – in relief and disappointment. He was relieved to see that Mika was normal… as normal as possible but disappointed that she had already caused trouble the moment she woke up. "So what's up?" Mika asked him, mouth full of chocolate muffin.

"The sky, so—"

"WRONG~!" Mika flicked him on his forehead. "The ceiling comes first! Then the sky!"

"You haven't changed at all."

"Why would I?"

"Even after being in a coma for a month…"

"Ren-Ren!" Mika barked out suddenly, Renji jolted up in his seat. "Your angsty attitude is pissing me off!! It works for Bya-chan but not for you so quit it!!"

"Uh… I'm sorry?"

Mika tsked at him grumpily as she wolfed down the last bit of her muffin. "Seriously, what's up with you?"

"Well… where should I start?" Renji thought back hard to the very beginning.

"Renji you're gonna hurt yourself!! Stop thinking!!"

"SHUT IT!!"

"That's the Ren-Ren I know!!" Mika grinned gleefully at Renji's 'normal' behaviour.

"Okay, so destroying the Hougyoku, I'll start from there." Renji decided. "Wait, what do you remember?"

"Um… me trying to kill you, we all got into a circle and attacked the Hougyoku… and after that is fuzzy."

"I'm pretty sure more things are fuzzy in your brai—OI!!" Renji dodged from a flying object that made a clunk as it fell onto the floor. Renji looked back to see that the object was a metal spoon, thrown at a frightening force. He looked back to see a pretty ticked off Mika. "Sorry…"

"Go on."

"Okay well… I blacked out too but, when I woke up which was like a day or two later you were half-dead here." He told her. Mika nodded, following his oversimplified story. "Kotetsu-fukutaichou said that you guys had a 50/50 chance of waking up and a lot of testing was done on you guys."

"WHAT!?"

"Yeah, just to see if you guys were normal or not… somehow they said that you guys were normal… we still don't get it." Mika smirked at this. "And then a month passed and now you're awake!"

"Anything else happen while I was sleeping?"\

"That's right… Gin's and Tousen's execution…"

"EXECUTION!!!!?!!??!?!?!?!"

Mika suddenly grabbed Renji's haori and shook him back and forth repeatedly.

"WHADDYA MEAN EXECUTION!!!??!!"

"MIkaaa THEeeeyy'RE not DEaD yET!!!" Renji managed to tell that to Mika while she was shaking him furiously. She stopped momentarily and stared at him deep into his eyes.

"WHEN IS IT THEN!?" Mika wailed as she continued to shake him again.

"NExT wEEk!!!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

"WE'RE all AGainST IT!!!" He added on, hoping that Mika would stop sometime soon.

"WE'RE GOING!!!!" Mika declared as she jumped out of bed, marched to the bathroom to change into her uniform and then dragged Renji out.

"You're not supposed to be out of bed yet!!" He hissed at her.

"Do I look like a wuss to you?!" Mika growled out at him.

"No. But you shouldn't push yourself!!!" He warned her.

"I can take care of myself!!" Mika scoffed offended at Renji's accusation of her being weak.

"Do you even know where you're going!?" He asked her. Mika stopped after realizing that she had no plan in mind.

"Where are we going?" She turned to him.

"HOW SHOULD I KNOW!? YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE OUT OF BED YET!!"

Mika shrugged and walked on to her unknown destination. She turned a corner but felt lightheaded. She took a wobbly step before collapsing suddenly. Luckily for her Renji caught her and helped her back onto her feet.

"I told ya." Renji sighed. Mika regained her footing and continued on as if nothing had happened.

"Ren-Ren…" She squeaked out 5 minutes later; she had trouble balancing properly and had to stabilize herself by holding onto the wall. "Can you be my legs?"

"Geez woman…" He sighed as he gave her a piggy back. "So where to?"

"Old man's place!" Mika pointed into a random direction and that was where Renji headed for.

---

"It's so boring here though!!" Tori whined for the millionth time as Hitsugaya sighed and said no once more. Tori had woken up, finished her pudding and jello and many other desserts and now wanted to wander around. But Hitsugaya, the protective person he was, wasn't going to let her do so.

"You're staying here until you make a full recovery!!" He pushed her back into bed and threw a pillow on top of her. She pushed it away and glared at him.

"Why!?"

"Because you almost died on me that's why!!" He shouted out.

"Yeah, but I didn't! That's what matters!" She crossed her arms defiantly and stuck her tongue out. Hitsugaya was getting irritated.

"No means no! And until you get the OK from a doctor here, you're not leaving!"

"Come on! No one will notice that we're missing for a few minutes! We're short Shiro-chan; nobody can see us!"

"I said no!"

"Grrrr…" Tori thought of plan B. "What if you pushed me around in a wheelchair? OOHHHH I always wanted to ride in one!!" Tori started to get excited at the thought of riding a wheelchair. The closest she'd ever been to a wheelchair was when she 'accidentally' nudged Renji down the stairs. After that, he didn't really trust Tori.

"I think that's fine." Isane walked in to Tori's glee. "Let's just check up on you first, okay?"

"Yes ma'am!!" Tori saluted her as Hitsugaya waited outside.

He sighed as he waited outside. Women were troublesome people, he had concluded that after thinking of all the times that he'd had to go out of his way to worry for someone else's well-being. First Hinamori, then Tori, Hinamori again, Tori again and now there was Rangiku to worry about. She had ditched work for that month and always spent time to hang around with Gin who was locked up in 10th Division (Rangiku's request). At first he thought that it was okay since they were childhood friends and had a tight bond with each other but then he'd always hear loud laughing and what seemed to be a party from the jail cells. He had wanted to kick Gin out several times but his gut said to leave them alone. Rangiku looked fine on the outside but now she was freaking out. Day after day she had sent complaints to Yamamoto to get rid of the sentence – not once had he answered her pleas.

"I'm A-OK!!" Tori burst through the doors on her own two feet with Isane walking behind her.

"I think she's strong enough to walk on her own. Just keep a close eye on her will you?" She instructed him before leaving.

"No wheelchair?"

"No wheelchair… I know bummer right!?" Tori skipped through the hallways to find the vending machines for sweet goodies. "So… how's Rangiku doing?" Tori asked him suddenly.

"The person she cares for the most is going to die next week, how do you think she feels?" He asked her.

"Not too great, bummed out, crappy, end of the world, hostile." Tori listed out. "Hey, let's visit them!" She decided. Without waiting for an answer she dragged Hitsugaya away and headed straight for Division 10. They didn't even make it to the jail cells when they found Rangiku who looked bummed out. She had just returned from a failed 'save Gin plan'.

"Man I hope that old fart dies a painful death!" Rangiku muttered through clenched teeth. Tori and Hitsugaya took a step back – they had never seen this type of face on Rangiku.

"What have you done? I might be able to stop it." Tori offered her help.

"Spammed his answering machine, texted him a million times, spammed his inbox, wrote on his _Facebook_ wall a million times…"

"He has _Facebook_!?" Tori asked Hitsugaya with a bewildered look.

"Everyone does, it's not a big deal." He responded.

"Ooh! Ooh!! Threaten him with a spoon!!" Tori shouted out enthusiastically.

"How does that work?" Hitsugaya asked, not seeing any logic from her plan.

"Been there done that." Rangiku sighed sadly.

"Ohh… darn…" Tori sighed and both women started to think up of a plan. "Shiro-chan, do something!!!" Tori tugged on his sleeve and whined to him like a 4-year old.

"Like what?" He asked her, not very interested in the topic.

"Stop it!!" She cried out. She tried to use her fake tears to persuade him. He faltered for a second but realized that it was all an act. "I just woke up and I learn that my friend's friend is gonna die!? Why!? It's not fair!!! Shiro-chan!!!!!!!!!!" By now Tori was 'bawling' her eyes out. Hitsugaya stared at her, not buying her act.

"Taichou I'm begging you!!" Rangiku grabbed his other sleeve and did the same as Tori.

"What the!?"

"PWEEZE!?" They showed off their 'tear-filled' eyes to him. He sighed and figured that it'd be impossible to say no to these two.

"Fine…"

"Okay, now go!" Both women pointed into the direction of Yamamoto's office.

"Geez…"

---

"Tsukiyomi, how're you feeling?" Ukitake barged into her room with a gift basket in his hands.

"Oh crap…" Rina muttered after seeing the gift in his hands. "I'm feeling just fine, what about you?" She returned the question.

"Oh I'm fine! You know I have a few scars but I'm A-OK!" He gave her a thumbs-up. "And here!" He shoved the basket into her hands. It consisted of candy, snacks and stuffed-animals.

"What's with your nice-guy act?" She asked him receiving the gift hesitantly. Both Ukitake and Byakuya exchanged nervous looks. "What?" Her eyes narrowed at them in suspicion. They were hiding something from her and she knew it. "Okay, either you guys tell me now or I find out in like 5 minutes!" She warned them.

"Well… um… you see…" Ukitake started off nervously. "Er… well while you were out for that one month… we kinda ran into a problem…"

"It can't be so bad can it?" She asked them doubtfully. "Everything looks fine to me!" She looked out the window to see a peaceful Soul Society.

"We kinda had another 'war'" Byakuya told her causing Ukitake's eyes to open wide. Ukitake smacked him on the shoulder and mouthed something to him.

"Another 'war'? Geez you guys are so useless without us!!!" Rina scoffed at them. "So what happened?"

Once again, nervous looks were exchanged.

"Are you going to say it?" Ukitake asked Byakuya. Byakuya shot him a look.

"Just spit it out already!!" Rina snapped out.

"Our Zanpakutou's went against us…" Byakuya told her. She stared at him like he was on something.

"What?"

"Are you deaf now? I said our Zanpakutou's went against us!" He told her once more. Her eyes shifted to Ukitake who was nodding.

"You serious? Wow you guys messed up BIG time for that to happen!" She laughed at them.

"And that's not all!" Ukitake continued on. He pointed at Byakuya. "He went against US TOO!!!" Rina's jaw dropped in shock. "I know! He's not the type to do that kind of thing yet he did! We thought it was another Aizen betrayal thing." Ukitake shook his head in disapproval at Byakuya.

"And I was ASLEEP for this whole thing!?" Rina shrieked out in shock. Ukitake nodded sensing Rina's intense disappointment in Byakuya. "F-ck I wanted to see that!!" Rina groaned and slumped into her pillows with Ukitake shocked at her comment.

"What?"

"It's not every day you see him going against us! He's so hell-bent on rules and crap after all!!" She pointed out. "Man, I can't believe I missed that!" She groaned once more. "So was that your big 'secret'?" She asked them.

"No, there's more." Byakuya told her.

"What?"

"You'll understand once you see it…" Ukitake muttered discreetly.

"What!? Tell me!!" She sat up and stared at the two, as far as she could tell, they weren't going to tell her.

"It can wait until you get better!" Ukitake told her with a nervous smile and attempted to leave.

"I'm okay now! Just give me a sec!" She told them before heading off to the bathroom to change to her uniform. "Okay let's go!" She told them and dragged them off.

"You forgot this!" Ukitake tossed her the Lieutenant's badge. She stared at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I thought I had to get re-tested…"

"You do, but everyone knows that you'll end up being the Lieutenant again anyways."

"Who says that?"

"Everyone."

"Who the hell is everyone? And what if I say no this time huh?"

"It'll be a sad day." Ukitake told her with a fake unenthusiastic voice. "Now just take it!" He forcefully tied the badge onto her arm which probably cut off some blood to her arm. She glared at him before ignoring him for the rest of the trip.

"Division 6?" Rina asked them noticing that they were heading into her division's turf.

Neither one of the two responded and kept walking. The two stopped suddenly and exchanged some words to each other. They both nodded and looked at Rina.

"What?" She asked them with a blank look on her face. Byakuya appeared behind her and shielded her eyes suddenly. "What the hell!?" She yelled out.

"Just keep walking…" He instructed her.

"Fine." She huffed out and walked to wherever they led her.

"Okay, we're here." She heard Ukitake's voice say shakily. Byakuya removed his hands and…

"WHAT THE F-CK!?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

---

"_WHAT THE F-CK!?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"_

Renji and Mika looked off into the distance to hear what seemed to be Rina screaming out in anger.

"Was that?" Renji looked at Mika.

"Yes it was." Mika told him before leading him back onto their journey to find Yamamoto. Along the way they met up with Hitsugaya with Rangiku and Tori trailing behind him.

"Mika you're okay!!"

"Tori you're up!!!" The two girls screamed in joy and hugged each other.

"Why do I have this feeling that they weren't actually in a coma for a month but just slept the month away to avoid work?" Hitsugaya wondered out loud.

"Aw damn! I should've done that!" Rangiku whined. Hitsugaya turned to her.

"You skipped out this month!" He pointed out to her.

"But you let me~!" She tried to find a way out of the trouble she was probably going to face soon. He sighed at her actions and stomped off to Yamamoto's office.

"You haven't seen Rina yet have you?" Tori asked in wonder.

"I think I just heard her scream WTF… from over there…" Mika pointed off to where Division 6 was around. "Not sure why though…"

"Maybe it's cuz her division is completely destroyed…" Tori thought out loud. "Way to go _Renji_!" Tori shot the captain a look.

"What?" He asked her clueless.

"What happened?" Mika asked her, not knowing the story either.

"Oh you see, when we were in that coma, their zanpakutou's went against them and totally kicked their asses. And then Byaku joined their side and he destroyed part of his division cuz he was knocking everyone out. Then Tako-chan over there got all emotional and crap and started to hunt him down. And then yeah… a fight between them started, they completely destroyed the division." Tori told her.

"Whoa…" Mika was in shock. She turned to Renji. "Who won?" She asked him. "It was Byaku right?" Mika didn't let Renji speak before coming to that conclusion.

"Couldn't she be mad about Kuchiki-taichou going against us?" Renji brought up a valid point. The two girls exchanged looks and said no. "Wha…?"

"Rina kinda likes those badass types so she's probably more proud of him than angry. You better hide your ass cuz she's gonna kill you when she finds out that you destroyed the division~" Tori sang out in a menacing tone.

"I didn't destroy it! He started it!!" Renji tried to point out. "And it doesn't look much different than the wasteland you guys live in now! You guys are so messy; why do you care about this kind of thing?!" He yelled out at them.

"How rude!" Tori spat out with an angry look on her face.

"Ren-Ren… we don't care about the little things… but if it's the BIG things then we get pissed." Mika explained to him – he didn't get it.

"It's not… _that_ bad!" He rubbed his head, trying to remember the damage done to Division 6. "Maybe a few buildings are completely destroyed, Kuchiki-taichou's office is a wreck, broken windows, broken doors, big holes in the walls, and craters in the ground…" He trailed off and then looked at the two girls who were giving him an 'I-told-you' look. "I'm gonna be killed aren't I?" He asked them meekly.

"Since you're Mika's boyfriend, she'll probably give you 10 seconds to relive all the happy moments in your life." Tori warned him.

"FML." He muttered before walking off, hopefully he wouldn't meet Rina or Byakuya along the way.

---

"What is this?" Rina asked Ukitake and Byakuya who were avoiding eye contact with her. She was obviously pissed at seeing two or three buildings that were unscathed from Renji's and Byakuya's fight. The rest were in ruins or partial ruins. Obviously some amazing fight had occurred not too long ago.

"If it'll make you feel better," Ukitake started off. "I wasn't involved!!" Rina just gave him a strange look. "He did it." He pointed at Byakuya accusingly. Byakuya glared at him but was brave enough to meet Rina's eyes.

"It was Abarai, not me." He told her with a seemingly calm voice.

"Stupid octopus!" Rina growled out and turned around to see the destruction once more. It certainly did seem like Renji's work or 'art' as Yumichika would call it. "Wait, wait, wait… how did those holes in the roofs happen?" She asked him looking at several buildings that only had large gaping holes in them.

"Hadou No. 33, Shakkahou" He told her.

"From you?" She asked him.

"No from Abarai."

Rina stared at him strangely.

"Seriously?" Ukitake joined in, not believing his words. "I did not know that Abarai could successfully pull off kidou attacks!"

"Me neither!" Rina agreed with him.

---

Renji sneezed.

"Hohohooooo~ you're gonna die Renji!" Mika laughed menacingly at him. Renji looked at her with wide-eyes.

"Surely YOU can do something about it, can't you?!" He almost begged to her.

"I could but…" Mika looked off into the distance in deep thought.

"Mika, shouldn't you be protecting him?" Tori asked her. This had troubled her several times. Renji had always faced life-threatening situations, some that he couldn't escape from and some that were clearly his fault. Yet, despite all this Mika would always have those twisted thoughts of hers and cheer on Renji's attacker.

"Renji's strong enough! I **believe** in him!" Mika clenched her fist tight in admiration as stars sparkled around her.

"Hear that? She _believes_ in you!" Rangiku cooed towards him. "Mika! Don't believe in him too much! You'll lose bets if you do!!" Rangiku hollered out towards her.

"What!?" Renji looked at Rangiku in disbelief. "You guys bet on me?! Since when!? And for what?" He asked her.

"You know fights, with Ichigo, Byakuya, Mika… the ones you ALWAYS lose to!" Rangiku told him.

"If I _ALWAYS_ lose to them, then why do you bet on me in the first place?" He asked her, seeing his logic overpowering Rangiku's.

"We felt bad for you so we thought that's the least we could do!" Rangiku pointed out causing Renji to growl slightly. "Right Hisagi!?" She asked his Lieutenant that had shown up and encountered them.

"Yep." He nodded. "I've lost 43, 349 for betting on you." He informed Renji.

"You were just being stupid, that's not my fault." He jeered to Hisagi.

"That's called you suck!"

"What was that?!"

"You heard me!"

"You wanna go!?"

"Anytime, anywhere! You're just gonna lose anyways!!"

"Renji I BELIEVE in you!! YOU CAN DO IT!!!" Mika yelled out to him which took him off-guard to say the least.

"What are you guys doing!?" Hitsugaya returned and stopped the fight.

"Aw…" Tori pouted at not being able to see a fight commence.

"You guys made me come here so I did! And then you guys decide to duke it out right here!?" He faced the two 9th Division members who were looking at the floor guiltily. "We're going!!" He yelled out and stormed off again.

"Ah~ everything's back to normal~!" Rangiku and Hisagi sighed in relief.

* * *

_Please, do NOT flame me for mentioning the Zanpakutou filler arc. I know it's filler but it's the most interesting one and it won't be a big part of the storyline, especially since this story is ending in a few chapters or so (most likely 2-3). I'm not sure if I'll get the next chapter out soon, since school is being a big pain but I'll try to work on it._


	25. Chapter 25

The doors to 1st Division's office slammed open with a loud bang, startling the captain dozing off inside. He blinked several times so that his eyes could adjust to the bright light that shone in from behind the three girls.

They walked in triumphantly at first but then slowly, their steps slowed down and their bodies crumpled down onto the ground. Somehow though they all managed to land in the 'perfect' Japanese sitting position (sitting on their knees).

"Fail…" Renji coughed out as he saw all three girls defeated on the floor. Hitsugaya and Byakuya nodded in unison.

"Ohh… I shoulda gotten that wheelchair…" Tori whined with a pout.

"I never got that option!" Mika turned to Tori wide-eyed. "Special brat…" She grumbled.

"Maybe it's because you scared everyone away before they could speak to you!" Renji pointed out to her.

Yamamoto cleared his throat which caught the attention of all six.

"Welcome back you three."

"Something's wrong…" Mika mouthed to the other two. They nodded nervously.

"As you three probably already know, you were in a coma for a month. During that time we have realized that your reiatsus have changed, however nothing serious was done to you three."

"Yama-jii…!" Mika suddenly blurted out. He looked at her. "Your arm is burned!" She gasped in shock. "You know what that means!!" She faced Rina and Tori. The three captains could only wonder why in the world they had gotten so worked up about those three sitting like idiots on the floor in front of their boss.

"He's gonna die! Like Dumbledore in _Harry Potter_!! It started with a burned hand!" Tori spewed out like an honour roll student.

"… Then who's the guy that's gonna kill him?" Rina asked meekly.

Color drained from Tori's and Mika's faces. Immediately they started to list people who seemed likely to end the old man's life.

"Wow…" Hitsugaya remarked at their hard work at trying to find the traitor amongst them. "I didn't know they read!"

"They probably don't, they just go to the movies… in the real world where it's free for them…" Renji pointed out.

"Aw sh-t…" Rina cursed suddenly as her left arm flopped down lifelessly. Mika and Tori stared at it before gasping in shock.

"Rina, can you feel that arm?" Tori asked her. Rina shook her head no.

"Rina!! Don't die on us!!" Mika cried out suddenly. Rina just stared at them confused as everyone else was. "Don't you know? One-sided paralysis is a sign of a brain tumour!!" Mika and Tori glomped Rina in a tight embrace and started praying for her well-being.

"Mika, Tori!" Rina whimpered out. It sounded like she had started crying – a real, rare sight to see.

The two girls released hold on their friend to see a pained look on her face.

"I don't have a tumour, it's this stupid lieutenant's badge!!" She whined while she tugged on the badge. "Ukitake tied it on too tight and I can't get it off!!!" She whined.

"It can't be that hard…" Renji told her.

"It'sa friggin Boy Scout knot dammit!!!" Rina screamed out at him as she tried again to tear off the badge constricting blood flow to her arm.

"About that…" Yamamoto spoke up after watching their shenanigans. "You'll have to get re-evaluated." Rina frowned at this. "After your 2-year probation of course."

"…what?" All three girls stared at him confused.

"What does probation mean…?" Tori whispered out to Mika.

"I think it's bad…" Mika replied.

"It's your punishment." Yamamoto told them.

"… When was this decided…?" Rina asked him. "I thought the only sentences we could receive were execution and exile."

Yamamoto ignored her comment.

"Your probation will start now. You will not come to work, your spiritual powers will be sealed, and your zanpakutous will be taken away from you. You will be under constant house arrest and will be monitored daily."

The three blinked at him with confused amazement.

"So basically, you don't want us to come to work for two years?" Tori asked him. A smile tugged at the three girls' lips. It was like a dream come true.

"Yes."

Mika and Rina fought hard to hide their wide smiles from that news. Probation wasn't a punishment at all!

They were all dismissed from his office shortly. The three captains escorted the girls out and back into their lavish house. Once inside, level 3 and 4 barriers were put up around their home as they received bands on their arms to restrict any spiritual powers.

"Aw man, two years of staying in here. Best thing that could ever happen to us!" Tori beamed proudly at their accomplishment. "But you guys are screwed for two years…" Tori looked at the three captains.

"I doubt it…" All three captains muttered under their breath.

"Oh my god I got it off!" Rina shrieked out suddenly. She had successfully ripped off the constrictive badge around her arm and now had to feel the strange sensation of blood flowing into her once blue arm. "Here." She tossed it over to Byakuya who caught it. "Oh yeah, who's gonna be my replacement?" She asked him.

"Rina, there hasn't been a replacement for me since EVER!" Renji pointed out to her.

"Then what the hell was I doing?" She asked him with a doubtful look.

"We're not sure…" Renji and Byakuya exchanged glances.

"Shiro-chan." Tori called out to him. "Do you think we can go see Gin's and Tousen's execution… if it actually occurs…?" She asked him.

"…I'll make something happen…"

--

**[A week later]**

--

"You guys are alive!!" Rukia and Hinamori squealed as they death hugged Rina, Mika, and Tori as they arrived at the execution. They exchanged awkward glances as it was an ironic thing to say especially at where they had just arrived.

"Sorry to burst your bubble but they have to stay with us." Renji told the two as he and Hitsugaya and Byakuya pulled the three girls back to their sides.

"It's okay, we'll just watch with you guys." Rukia decided. "ICHIGO!!" She shouted over to him. He appeared immediately confused and slightly scared.

"Yeah?"

"Ichigo, we're really sorry about destroying your division." Mika apologized suddenly.

"Ah it's in the past… it's not like mine was the only one destroyed." Ichigo assured them waving the problem away.

"Good… I didn't feel that sorry for you…" Mika muttered silently to herself.

"Ah, they're bringing out Ichimaru and Tousen." Hinamori pointed out.

Both prisoners were brought out with many guards surrounding them. They were brought out to an elevated platform where they sat down on their knees and waited for the executioner.

"Whose gonna do it?" Rina asked Byakuya.

"Yamamoto-soutaichou."

Just as Byakuya said his name, he walked out onto the platform; everyone stopped talking and watched in silence. He drew out his sword and pointed it at the two former captains. Many people averted their eyes for the few seconds it took for Yamamoto to do his job.

"Is it over?" Rukia asked out loud.

"It's over." Ichigo told her.

"Oh god…" Rangiku gasped from her location. Rukia and Ichigo looked to the left and realized that she had been standing silently by them the whole time.

On the platforms were the bloodied bodies of the two former captains. Something was odd about the sight though.

"…Did Gin just move…?" Mika wondered out loud as she peered closer. He twitched again and so did Tousen.

"…They're still alive?" Tori gasped in shock.

"Yama-jii failed?" Ichigo asked out loud.

"You know what that means…" Hinamori started off.

"They're VAMPIRES!!" The girls shrieked out in shock.

"No they're not!" The men whacked the girls on the back of the head. "Look!!"

"They're **not** SPARKLY!" They gasped in unison and almost burst out laughing.

"Oh thank god…" Rangiku sighed in relief. "They're not sparkly d--ch-bags."

Everyone looked at the twitchy two and came to the conclusion that they could not be vampires because they were not sparkly.

"…I can't believe we used _Twilight_ logic to solve that…" Tori slapped her head in disappointment.

"I'm more amazed to learn at how many of us actually watched that 'awesome' movie…" Mika groaned in disappointment at her past actions.

"…Wait if they're alive… then what does that mean?" Hinamori asked them.

"So that's what soutaichou did…" The captains figured it out quickly.

"What?"

"Rukia, remember when Byakuya almost killed me?" Ichigo asked her.

"Which time?" She asked him as she recalled the 14 times he had tried to kill him.

"…the FIRST and ONLY time." Ichigo tried to defend himself.

"You mean when your powers went bye-bye?" Tori spoke up.

"…Yes and how do you know that…?" He asked her suspiciously.

"Everyone knows about that, it's no big secret!" Tori laughed it off.

"Okay whatever, well that's what Yama-jii did to those guys. Their spiritual powers are gone so they can't be shinigami anymore." Ichigo explained to them.

"Ohh…"

"But they will die if they continue to bleed out like that…" Renji brought up.

"MEDIC!!"

--

**[1 year later]**

A year had passed since the so-called execution of Gin and Tousen. The two were stripped of their powers and were immediately imprisoned within the Maggot's Nest. They were locked up in separate cells and were meant to remain there forever – that was the plan. Occasionally Rangiku would visit Gin – it also proved as a good excuse to ditch work.

Back with the Three Musketeers, they were enjoying house arrest and were living like they hadn't before. Of course people would come by to check up on them every now and then. They didn't need to though because it was completely unnecessary. All they had to do was take one step in and they would know they were not evil masterminds like Aizen was. The one thing that had changed in their household was that there were small shrines in the main living room to pay respect to their dead families.

Seireitei had recognized its mistakes in the past (maybe not all of them…) about the three girls' families. There was an official apology and as a sign of respect, gravestones were set up for the three families where everyone could pay their respects. When their families were deemed as traitors, their ranking had fallen deeply. Now with their charges lifted, they were now considered as a middle-class noble family.

"…We're considered nobility…?" Rina questioned Byakuya as he brought her the news. He nodded. Rina looked back to see Tori and Mika jumping on their jumbo trampoline they had set up in the middle of the room. She looked back at Byakuya. "You sure…?"

"No."

"Thought so."

"Rina, if you're considered noble then!!" Rangiku blurted out somewhere from her hiding spot. She pulled Byakuya closer to Rina. "You guys can get married with no problems!!" She announced. Both Rina and Byakuya exchanged glances.

"Where the f-ck did you come from!?" They both asked her.

"Everyone I have an announcement to make!" Nariko walked out stealing all the attention. "I've decided that I want to become a shinigami!"

"Yay!!!" Mika and Tori cheered as they threw marshmallows up into the air, creating an even larger mess than they already had.

"But Nariko, that means we'll have to teach you the basics to get by." Rina told her.

"I know that. That's why I want you guys to teach me!" She beamed up at them.

Rina, Mika and Tori exchanged glances and nodded.

"Alright then." Rina nodded at her niece. "Tori will teach you math, Mika will teach you history, and I will teach you medicine."

"What about me?" Rangiku asked them.

"You can teach her about foods!" Mika declared.

Nariko stared at them.

"Aren't those the stuff you guys suck at the most?" She asked them doubtfully.

"Nonsense!"

"Let's get started right away!"

--

"Remember this Nariko, 2 plus 2 equals dead fish. You got it?" Tori asked Nariko. Nariko stared at her mentor questionably but wrote it down. She stared at it and wondered if that was actually right. "I guess we can move on to eye math now." Tori decided.

"Eye math…?" Nariko questioned her.

-

"Napoleon Bonaparte was born in 1821 and died in 1769." Mika read out to Nariko. Nariko immediately doubted this lesson would go well. "He was a French dwarf that dreamed of conquering the world; well he almost managed to, but he was famous in the end! In fact, the movie _Napoleon Dynamite_ was based on his life story. And also, because he was so successful, they named the flavour of ice cream – Neapolitan, after him!"

"…Are you sure about that Mika?" Nariko asked her doubtfully.

"Absolutely positively!" Mika gave her the thumbs up sign.

"So that's why it's called Neapolitan…" Rangiku and Hisagi realized from tuning into Mika's history class.

-

"Okay these are laxatives. Do not take them unless you are really constipated. But you CAN use them on people you don't like. For example, when Ukitake-taichou told me that I had to stay overtime to finish some overdue paperwork I lost, I put some laxatives into his tea and I didn't have to do it anymore! See how it can benefit you in different ways?" Rina smirked evilly.

Nariko just stared at her crazy aunt.

"This is something else you can give to people you don't like." Rina pulled out a bottle of _Buckley's_ cough medicine. "It tastes like crap but it does get rid of the cough."

"… Rina, how come you're teaching me of medicines that you can use to screw people over with?"

"Because it's good if you need to escape out of a sticky situation. But don't overdo it though! Your life might be endangered if you do." Rina warned her remembering a time when she overdid it. "Oh and these won't work on Unohana, Zaraki, or Kurotsuchi. Just don't make them mad."

**[A/N: DON'T DO THIS!!]**

-

"… Rangiku-san…" Nariko spoke up looking at the burnt food before them. "How did you manage to burn rice…? It was in a rice cooker!"

"…It must be a defective rice cooker." Rangiku concluded. "Whatever you can make it in a pot too!"

"…What have I gotten myself into?" Nariko wondered out loud.

* * *

**[Probation over!]**

"Hey, hey did you hear?" Mika asked Tori after successfully escaping 9th Division.

"What?" Tori asked after pushing all the sheets of paperwork off her table.

"TORI!" Hitsugaya yelled at her.

"That's what you get for dragging me back to work!"

"God dammit woman…" He grumbled as he resumed his work.

"Division 3's new captain!" Mika brought up with a huge smile. "Guess who it is!"

"New captain?" Tori asked bewildered. "Shiro-chan how come you didn't tell me about this?" She asked him pouting.

"…I thought you didn't give a damn about work-related stuff." He jeered at her.

"Who is it?" Tori turned back to Mika after ignoring his comment.

"Come see for yourself!" Mika grinned.

--

"Hya!!"

"That's the spirit!!" Ukitake cheered on Rina as she and Byakuya sparred tenaciously. Both Ukitake and Kyouraku were sitting on the rooftops of Division 6, drinking tea and enjoying the scene down below. "Come on Tsukiyomi, you can do better than that!" He yelled down at her.

"Ah, thank god she's back as Division 6's lieutenant. Little Byakuya was getting all moody again without her working by his side." Kyouraku commented.

"How can you tell?" Ikkaku asked them. He was up on the rooftops with the two captains as well. "He looks just as he has been since… forever…" He commented.

"Ah Madarame-san, when you've been working with Byakuya for as long as we have, you can tell when he's feeling down or not." Ukitake explained to him. "But he has changed a lot since he was little."

"Yeah, he was such an arse." Kyouraku laughed.

"Such a baby back then." Ukitake joined in.

"…That's bullsh-t…" Ikkaku commented.

"It's true. Look at Tsukiyomi down there. She's obviously getting pissed at him right?" Ukitake pointed down at Rina clearly getting pissed off by Byakuya's laid-back attitude to her every attack. "That's what Byakuya was like when he was little."

Ikkaku still didn't believe them.

"You did a good job in training Tsukiyomi, Madarame." Kyouraku complimented him.

"Yeah… well if I didn't then…" Ikkaku trailed off as he remembered Rina's threat to him about exposing the truth of his Bankai. "So glad she didn't…"

"Ah, Kurai, Shinboku, good timing!" Kyouraku was pleased with their amazing entrance to Division 6. "Come join us and enjoy the show." He pointed down to the fighting couple.

"Where'd he go?" Mika asked Ukitake.

"Who?"

"Y'know. Newbie captain."

"He was here a moment ago…" Ukitake looked around.

"Hey Rina!" Tori shouted out to her down below.

"What!?" She shouted back while defending herself with her Guan Dao-form zanpakutou.

"3rd Division Captain is MIA, where'd he go?" She asked her. Rina glanced over at them to see the newly appointed captain missing.

"Hell like I know!" She shouted back as she pushed Byakuya away from her. "Can we have a break now?" She whined to him out of breath. He sighed and sheathed his weapon as so did she. They jumped up on the rooftops where everyone else were. "Ah… Ikkaku's gone." Rina noticed.

"Was he the new captain?" Tori asked her.

"No."

"Sorry to disappear on you guys!"

"Kira's the new captain!?" Tori asked in wonder. "Congrats!"

"Uh thanks." Kira walked up to them in his new captain's haori.

"You'll do a good job Kira." Mika nodded to him with a smile.

"Thanks Mika. Oh Rina, I've got your manga stash." He raised a bag filled with manga inside. Instantly her face lit up.

"Jeez you guys never change." A voice groaned. Mika turned around to find Renji. He had realized that Mika was missing.

"Oh hey Ren-Ren…" Mika laughed nervously. "You found me!"

"Yeah come on let's head back." Renji grabbed her arm and dragged her away. "Oh and congrats Kira!" Renji congratulated his long-time friend.

"Bye Kurai!" Kyouraku waved to her.

"So how's your captaincy going?" Rina asked Kira.

"Well, not much has changed really; since I was practically acting as captain for all those years after all." He pointed out.

"Then all you have to get used to is our ultra boring meetings." Kyouraku told Kira.

"They are ultra boring." Tori agreed with Kyouraku. "I know because me and Mika spy on them."

"Great…" Kira groaned. "Oh Rina I heard this from Rangiku-san."

"What?" Rina asked him as she took a sip of water.

"She said that you were pregnant."

Rina spit out the water and started to choke horribly.

"WHAT!?" She shrieked out at him after she recovered. "Where'd she get that from!?"

"It's not true after all." Kira mumbled.

"Of course it's not true. Did you see the murderous intent in that guy's eyes?" She pointed at Byakuya. "What kind of person would attack his unborn child?"

"Crazy, messed-up, angry, psycho-killer guys." Tori answered her rhetorical question.

"Oh god, Rangiku…" Rina grumbled out her name.

"But we can expect one sometime soon right?" Ukitake asked her.

"HAH!?"

"I mean you guys can get married now since that social barrier is basically terminated. There won't be many problems with you entering his family." He pointed out.

"… Just because my family is considered 'noble' on paper, doesn't mean the old prunes in his family approve of me." She told him.

"Yeah, I mean do we look like we're in a noble family?" Tori asked him.

"No."

"Exactly."

"And how come I'm always the one getting attacked with pregnancy rumours?" Rina asked them remembering the time when Yachiru had asked Byakuya what 'pregnant' meant.

"Ask Rangiku, she's spreading them all." Kira told her. Rina's face paled.

"I'm gonna kill Rangiku so I'm leaving for today. Is that alright?" She asked Byakuya.

"Go for it."

"Hah…" Tori sighed. Now it was her and a bunch of lame-o captains.

"Tori." She looked up to see Hitsugaya standing behind her, peering down at her.

"Crap…" She muttered as she stood up to follow him back. "Oh my god." She gasped suddenly. All captains turned to them to see what was so amazing. "Am I taller than you?!" She gasped. Hitsugaya's eyes widened.

"No Tori, you're just standing on the peak of the roof and he's standing on the lower part…" Kyouraku burst her bubble of hope and joy.

Hitsugaya stifled a laugh but it didn't work for Tori.

"SHUT UP!!!" She yelled at him and started to chase at him.

"IT'S NOT MY FAULT!!" He tried to justify himself.

"OWWWWWWW, MIKAAAAAA!!" Renji's loud voice resonated throughout Seireitei. "NOT FRIGGIN TORTURE TAG **AGAIN**!!!!"

"Wow… they really haven't changed at all." Ukitake commented from the screams he was hearing from all directions.

"RINA I'M SORRY!!" They heard Rangiku's shrieks of fear.

"Yup, they really haven't changed at all." Kyouraku agreed.

"Thank god they didn't, otherwise life would be real boring." Ukitake nodded.

Another one of Rangiku's shrieks rang out followed by a large crashing sound.

"You might wanna go grab your girlfriend, or else we're going to lose one of our shinigami." Ukitake told Byakuya. Instantly he left to restrain Rina.

"Hah…" The three captains sighed peacefully as they listened to the terrifying screams and howls caused by the Three Musketeers.

"Still think those guys are still "Just Friends" with those girls?" Kyouraku asked Ukitake and Kira.

"Not a chance."

* * *

_I 've probably pissed off Twilight fans ... sorry ... oh and Mika's history lesson is obviously not true, so don't write that on a test or w/e and do NOT, NOT ever use medicine against people you hate. _

_Unfortunately... this is the end of my Just Friends 'trilogy' ... I've hoped all you readers have enjoyed it and seriously, thank you to you all for reading it and reviewing. I still have that poll up on my profile so go vote if you already haven't!_

_Until my next series (if I get to it...)_

_--HotarunoYami  
_


End file.
